Live-Aboard Sailor Discovers His Marina Slip Costs More Per Square Foot Than Manhattan Apartment

Live-aboard sailor Patrick Bilge has discovered that his annual marina slip rental, when calculated on a per-square-foot basis, exceeds the cost of residential real estate in most Manhattan neighborhoods, a finding that has prompted him to question the fundamental economics of his lifestyle choice. 'My slip is 35 feet by 12 feet,' Bilge calculated, staring at a spreadsheet on his laptop inside the cramped cabin of his 1987 Catalina 34. 'That's 420 square feet. My annual slip fee is $28,000. That's $66.67 per square foot per year. The average Manhattan apartment is $62 per square foot per year.' Bilge arrived at this comparison after a conversation with his college roommate, who rents a studio apartment in the East Village for $2,100 per month and has 'a real bathroom, heat, and walls that don't leak.' 'He has a stove with four burners,' Bilge said. 'I have a two-burner propane unit that I'm afraid to use because of the carbon monoxide situation. He has a shower with consistent water pressure. I have a marina shower that was last renovated during the Reagan administration and requires quarters.' The slip fee does not include electricity, which is metered separately, or water, which is available from a hose on the dock. It also does not include winter haul-out, bottom paint, engine maintenance, or what Bilge described as 'the continuous financial hemorrhage of owning anything made of fiberglass.' 'People think living on a boat is cheap,' Bilge said. 'It is not cheap. It is the most expensive way to be uncomfortable that I have found. You're paying Manhattan prices to sleep at a 3-degree angle in a space where you can touch both walls simultaneously.' Bilge's marina neighbors, several of whom live aboard year-round, have pushed back on his analysis. 'You can't put a price on freedom,' said adjacent slip holder Dorothy Dock, from inside her own cramped cabin during a rainstorm that was audibly leaking through her deck. 'I just did,' Bilge replied. '$66.67 per square foot.'