I met my first neighbor when I was moving my boat into it's slip. It was tugged across the lake by a raft with an outboard motor while I drove to the new moorage and stood on the end of the dock waving to guide the driver. There are no addresses or names on the water side! My neighbor jumped off her houseboat and ran down the dock to help me, leaving her favorite Chinese dinner to get cold. She was so excited to see another houseboat and she really liked the look of mine. She helped tie it down which was great because I really didn't know what I was doing at all. She lives near the end and has a view and is a fabulous neighbor! She helped me with my propane tank. The rest are a mixed bag. There are a few liveaboards who are quiet and friendly. There are some who keep their boats but never come around. Expensive hobby. Then there are the "tourists" who come around to party. I think a couple of them are liveaboard wannabes who can't get status. Next to me is an antique. The owner comes often and putters around. Over the winter, he would start up the engine and run it for about 1/2 hour at a time. Diesel. Under cover. My headache would start after about two minutes. Oh well, part of the deal. In the spring he finally took it for a ride. Nice. Opens up my view nicely. He finally put a chair on the deck and I expected to find him relaxing and enjoying his boat. I've only seen him sit for about five minutes though. Guess he just likes to putter. Sometimes he plays opera or whistles.
The couple that own the boat across from me live across the sound come to visit their boat often. Friendly and quiet. They sometimes have guests and seem to really enjoy their boat so much. Nice.
Then there's "creepy guy". Big, fancy boat. Often visits during the night with guests. They generally arrive shouting in the parking lot, loud enough to wake you from sleep. You can hear them all the way from the parking lot, down the stairs and to the boat. Shouting. Literally. 2am. 3 am. 5 am. Regularly. Fortunately, the party goes out onto the water and doesn't stay at the dock. However, he has a very difficult time bringing the boat back to his slip. I've seen children do a better job. You think he'd get better with practice. His friends try to help guide him, but no luck. He's hit the dock, the friends have to leap onto the dock with the ropes to pull the boat into place. Wow. Last week he actually went out during the day. Woman with two small children. Not his usual fare. When they docked, she leaped off and left while he had to man the ropes himself and try to keep the kids aboard until he was done. Now my imagination is really going. His nickname comes from the day I was climbing out the back of my boat with my dogs to find him taking my photo. I was surprised, confused, unhappy, just stopped in my tracks and stared at him. He finally said a meek hello. Too weird and creepy. We're not friends.
The "frat boys". Love to party. Seems like three regulars, two in their twenties or thirties, one probably in his fifties, but acts like the younger ones. Some of their parties start in the middle of the night. They like to prop the security gate open for their guests and I've found it like that in the morning. What's the security guard doing? Actually, they like to prop the gate open just because it's inconvenient. They like to have lots of people over and play their music very loud. Well, they're having fun. Too bad I wanted to sleep. They haul lots of beer onto the boat! Fun times. For them.
"Remodel woman". Her boat has been a mess from the time I moved in. Apparently it's been like that for the past three years. I was happy when it seemed she was moving in. She's around my age and I thought it would be great to have a neighbor I could get together with. Turns out she's one of those women who prefer only the company of men. She might talk to me if the mood strikes her or she just might ignore my friendly hello. However, I hear her shouting to the men that pass her boat. She struck up a long conversation with my construction guys. And most other guys that are around. I just ignore her now. Found her visiting sister snooping around my boat but I like to think she was just checking out the view.
When I moved on, I had a very nice neighbor with a pet bulldog and a very nice girlfriend. Unfortunately, he moved. Maybe he moved in with his girlfriend. I miss him. Then a gal moved in with her cocker spaniel. Didn't last long. However, there's a guy who says it's his boat and comes out occasionally to do stuff to the boat. Interesting.
There are neighbors on the dock in the office building. A bunch of therapists and the boat rental folks. They brought the boats and kayaks to the dock at the unlocked part. Come rent a boat for the day. One of the therapists carries a cage covered with a towel. Turns out it's a dog. Why isn't it walking? ZhouZhou hates it. If ZhouZhou hates it, Teeny feels like she has to hate it too but she doesn't know why. When I walk the dogs, sometimes people from the office building stop to say hello. Nice. Recently, one of them carried a creature that looked like a cat/dog out to do it's business. Didn't seem to be moving. It was so still that my dogs didn't even notice it. What was it???? Actually, I hope I never find out. Too creepy.
I thought the shared boating experience would mean close, friendly neighbors. You know, bluebirds and flowers. Silly. Actually, it's no different than any other neighborhood.
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