The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Houseboaters
‘Liveaboards’ relish Marina life on the Quinnipiac River
If you drive down Front Street in the Fair Haven section of New Haven, you will come across a “neighborhood” of hardy folks living in houseboats at a marina on the Quinnipiac River.
Their numbers are growing as more people discover the pleasures and advantages of this lifestyle.
It’s true last week wasn’t particularly easy for the “liveaboards” at the Quinnipiac River Marina, with Tropical Storm Isaias blowing in on Tuesday. But when I stopped in to see this group Thursday afternoon they appeared to have shrugged off Isaias. They and their homes did fine; the power remained on.
Valerie Richardson rode out the storm in her houseboat, the Captains
Morgan, where she has spent almost all of the past two years. She proudly noted she lived through the past two winters there.
“It was a little scary,” she said of the tropical storm. “The winds got up to 66 mph. If it had been more than 75 mph I would’ve been worried. I did give a little scream occasionally. I didn’t anticipate what the wind would feel like.”
Richardson said the only time she was forced to abandon ship and head over to her back-up home in North Haven was in January 2019 when a nasty ice storm hit New Haven. “I can’t do ice. Freezing rain is dangerous. You might slip and fall into the river.”
She said her total cost for living in the boat, including the dock fee (rent) and utilities comes to about $5,000 per year. “That’s about a quarter of what I’d pay for an apartment.”
Richardson invited me into the Captains Morgan, which measures 33 feet by 13 feet. “I had thought it would be tough living in a place this small. But it’s great. I love it.” (Those three words were a refrain I would keep hearing from the “liveaboards.”)
Her home features a minifridge, a hot plate, two bunks, a compact shower and a “head” (bathroom). Richardson shares the space with a cat named Pheral.
“It’s warm and cozy,” she said. “But it’s very leaky. The first winter it was wet a lot here. So I put a covering on it.”
Since the pandemic hit, Richardson has been able to spend even more time on her boat because her job in the development office of the Yale Art Gallery allows her to work remotely.
“This is idyllic,” she said as she looked out over the river. She pointed to a mallard duck bobbing in the water. “That’s Wayne; he has a broken wing. Everybody feeds him.”
“I love the bird life here,” Richardson said. “The ospreys fly around looking for food. The eagles are always here.”
She acknowledged, “I guess you have to be a little unconventional to live this way. It’s a non-materialistic
“It was a little scary. The winds got up to 66 mph. If it had been more than 75 mph I would’ve been worried. I did give a little scream occasionally. I didn’t anticipate what the wind would feel like.”
Valerie Richardson on living on her boat at the Quinnipiac River Marina during Tropical Storm Isaias
lifestyle. It’s about the present moment, being immersed in nature and this tight community.”
When I asked Richardson if she has a TV, she replied: “Why? I’m an artist. I read a lot.”
She said the marina generallyhas been “a bastion of maleness, like a lot of marinas. Guys come here because they can smoke cigars and drink beer and hang out with their pals. I like that there are all these cool women living here now.”
She introduced me to Jenna Curl, who moved to the marina from Key West, Fla., two months ago. She grew up there, living on a boat. Her mother is a charter boat captain.
Curl saw an ad on eBay for a small (24 feet by eight feet) Bristol Corsair and snagged it for $19.99. Then she had it brought to the marina.
Since then she has been painting her vessel, which she named Cantiga, transforming it to look like a ladybug. She also installed the windows and sanded the wood.
When she’s not aboard Cantiga she works at Yale’s hospitality department and at Streets Boathouse Smokehouse, a new restaurant next to the marina. Curl is also a student at Southern Connecticut State University.
“I love it,” Curl said of marina life. “It’s economical and environmentally friendly. And what a great view!”
Curl decided not to stay in her boat during the tropical storm. “It was bobbing around. I tried to tie down some things. I battened down the hatches.”
She described herself as “passionate about sailing” and can’t wait until her life gives her the time to, as she puts it, “hit the open seas.”
Meanwhile, she said, “There’s never a dull moment. There’s always something to do.”
Two other relatively recent arrivals to the marina are Anna Miller, who graduated from the Yale School of Art with a master’s degree in sculpture, and Michael Fadel, also a sculptor. They divide their time between their studio and their boat.
“This is the culmination of a dream,” Fadel said. “I’ve been wanting to live in a houseboat for years.”
Lisa Fitch, who owns the Quinnipiac River Marina, said it contains about 70 boats and about 12 of them have full-time residents.
“It’s a little community,” Fitch said. “It’s a neighborhood. Everyone feeds off each other. I love the feel here.”
When I asked Fitch if there are some negatives to go with all the positives of this lifestyle, she gave me a look and replied: “The weather? Like Tuesday, that was rough. The wind broke up the dock. That’s why that crane is over there.”
When Fitch told me she lives in Northford, I asked if she has ever fantasized about living in this “neighborhood.” She said she has not. “I’m not really good on boats.”