Could a houseboat community be coming to Rome NY, well yes if a local developer is able to receive the necessary zoning and planning board permission.   The plan would be to re-configure the marina to allow for 21 year-round houseboats to be placed at the Erie Canal Marina.  As is the case with several marinas on the Canal system, they have been forced to forgo maintenance as use of the Canal has lessened

The idea of creating houseboat communities along the Erie Canal has been of great interest to us at East Coast Houseboats.  When the Re-imagine the Canals, competition was first announced it got us thinking about how the Canal might benefit from the idea that houseboats could be a great way to get people out on the water.  With 524 miles of navigable waterway and more than 30 marinas located within the system it seems as if there are countless opportunities.

The obvious location for these boats would be in the existing marinas.  For these marinas, it would give them the opportunity to fill up any unused slips or even monetize areas of the marina that in the past have been unusable such as those with shallow water.  

What about the miles of unused sections of the Canal that could sustain small communities of houseboats?  What about the idea of creating mini marinas where groups of 5 or 6 boats could be located?  These marinas could be built with minimal infrastructure, there would be no fuel docks required, not even a travel lift.  A crane could be brought in for a day each Fall to pick the boats from the water and the process repeated in the Spring.  These boats could be built to be used completely off the grid, using Solar and wind generation which would provide virtually no carbon footprint. This could provide opportunities for businesses already located within the NYS Canal System to expand or even bring new investors to the area. 

The owners of these houseboats would now have access by water through the Canal System to go anywhere in the world or just sit on their floating front porch and fish, watch wildlife, kayak, canoe or bike or hike the Canalway Trail. 

 These boats could be placed in vacation rental platforms such as home-to-go or Airbnb offering opportunities to visitors to the Canal  a completely new way to experience the Canal Corridor.  These mini marinas could be set up so boat owners could park their day boats next to their houseboats for those trips out on the lake for a day of watersports or a trip to a dock and dine.

East Coast Houseboats builds and launch’s these boats at our production facility in Windsor NY.   The boats can be floated through the Canal System to their desired mooring locations