Now feeling refreshed and rekindling that spark that was dying out, I have a new excitement to get something positive happening with my beautiful tiny home.
Just before I left, the marina gave me one final task before they would attempt to put me in the water on the dock space I’ve already paid for....a signed paper releasing them from liability, that also outlines the insurance coverage needed to satisfy their requirements for protection. Totally understandable.
INSURANCE
So, I have called the insurance company that has insured the other tiny floating home in the marina. They told me they would need an inspection before they could give me a quote.INSPECTION
I called a local boat inspector and told him my plight. He told me he could meet me on Friday and take a look before he would even know if it was something in his domain. We met on Friday evening and he had that dismayed look on his face of the bearer of bad news. "I hate to tell you this" he started..."but..." that big ass but gets me every time. Basically, it comes down to this...if I want insurance I need an inspection...to get an inspection I would need to have the coast guard involved to perform a float test. That is an expensive and rigorous process that would determine craft stability and hull strength.
I never intended nor wanted to have this in any type of conditions that would force it to be tested in such a manner! It is NOT a BOAT! The inspector even said that he had a hard time with situations like mine because it's not a boat, not quite a house so nobody seems to have jurisdiction over it or knows what to do with it. Evidently, the tiny floating homes that were starting to pop-up in Newburyport, the next town over, are now banned! (Due to neighbors who didn't like them in the area)
Alternative Plans
So, to bend with the forces that be, I must find some creative alternative solutions to this big ass dilemma I've gotten myself into.
At this point I see two options:
One more option to float (locally)
If I could find a truck to just put me in the water, I have a mooring to use and would just need to fill out the application and submit it to be off a dock and away from liability.
However, I called the only boat hauler that would even consider the other tiny home in the yard and they told me "NO WAY"! They won't touch me!
So, without anyone to agree to even put me in the water I feel I have only one option left...
Final option
I will move the tiny "floating" home to land...and permanently ground it in a stable patch of earth. Water dreams of floating be damned at this point...
I have to be more practical at this point...my lack of understanding the ways of the marine/floating world has cost me plenty at this point and I can't afford to lose any more time or money!
I called a friend who works in moving and trucking and he said he knows a "crazy" guy who takes on things no one else does...sounds like my kind of guy! As we talked about the logistics and feasibility of moving my tiny home it was evident that I would need to undo all the work that I spent over $3,000 and 4 months on to create floatation for the structure! How utterly heartbreaking it is for me to accept that. I had a really good cry Friday and Saturday after all this really sunk in. I had known for months I would most likely never get it in the water...make it feel hard to want to keep dreaming. But I suppose it's just that I need to be more flexible in my dreaming. Funny thing is, I could have bought a barge for about $7k and hell for about $3k more investment I could have just bought it and no one would have had any issues about it at all! But I dreamed of Tom Sawyer, I dreamed of having a hand in building it by reusing materials (the 55 gal drums).
I know it would work too...
If only someone would believe in it like I do....
If only fear didn't rule the minds of men.
And so, I move on, with loss and continued determination.
Hoping only now, to find land and a truck before winter begins.
