Marinas provide safe locations for docking. You can dock your houseboat either short-term or long-term. An example of a marina providing both options for "liveaboard," the term for people who live on their boat, is the Port of the Islands Marina which calls itself "The Jewel of the Everglades." This marina, located in Naples Florida, has a different rate for docking boats where the owner lives on the boat as opposed to an empty boat at dock. In October, 2011, the rate for a monthly rental for liveaboard was $11 per linear foot. This includes water and pump-out service. Electrical service is an additional $50 per month.
Wherever you dock, you must comply with private property rights. Make sure that the tree, pier or dock on a lake where you tie up is not someone's private property. Check out the land before you back out of the main channel to dock. Remember to slow down; docking needs to proceed at a speed no greater than one mile per hour.
Make sure your chosen place of docking is deep enough to keep your houseboat afloat. Water is in motion and some locations become shallow or dry due to tides. Be cautious about where you dock. Take time to protect your boat before docking. Be safe and use two anchors to keep your houseboat secure.
Houseboat rentals provide a mobile vacation for large groups or families. Many houseboats provide multiple bedrooms and spacious facilities, such as the boats available for use on Lake Cumberland in Jamestown, Kentucky. Its website provides information about docking a houseboat on the lake. The basic instruction is "ease into the bank and tie off." Any location near a bank and out of the way of the traffic on the lake is a suitable place to dock your rental houseboat after a day on the lake. Make sure to select a secure object for the tie off.
