Floating Homes

A day trip to Victoria BC and a perfect opportunity to take some photos of the floating homes in Fisherman's Wharf the Venice of Victoria. Fisherman's Wharf attracts hundreds of tourists each year that come to taste the world's famous Barb's Fish and Chips, they come for ambiance and to take a look at the eclectic float homes with their teeny tiny gardens.

I came here for the photos because I love idea of living on the water. I spent 3 years living on a 56' Chris Craft boat in Vancouver BC and everyday that I walked the 1000 ft. long dock up to the parking lot I would pass by floating homes of every type, size, and color. The lifestyle was wonderful and the community was unique. It was like living in a small town, just down the shore from the big city. Living on the boat was great but being an artist, I needed a little more space.

After moving off the boat, I have always dreamed of building or purchasing a float home, so every chance I get I visit different float home communities around the island to take photos of all the different styles so if the opportunity should arise I will know exactly what sort of float home to build or buy.

So on this page I will be sharing some of the photos I've taken of the different float home communities on Vancouver Island and the surrounding Gulf Islands. I'm still finding new communities of floating homes so if you are interested make sure to come back often because I will be adding more photos as I visit each community.

So come along and join me on my photo tour of floating homes of Vancouver Island and see how each owner adds their unique personality to their float home.

Copyright text and photos, if not mentioned otherwise: Judith Nazarewicz

I'm just a novice at photography, but as I get older my interest in taking pictures has become an amazing hobby. For an novice my photo's aren't the best but these two camera's made all the difference. It's so much fun to take pictures of things that interest me and get the quality I want out of the photo. It's thoroughly amazing at what a good camera do.

As for the software I use to edit my photos, I find Adobe Photoshop CS6 the ultimate. You can probably get away with software that is quite a bit cheaper but since I'm an artist both digitally and tradition I love all of Adobe Software.

Anyways, I just wanted to share of my equipment with you. :-)

Photo Credit: Judith Nazarewicz

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 So many people have a dream of living near the water, but there are a few people who take their dream to the extreme and live a ultimate unique west coast lifestyle surrounded by water and boats in a floating home or a live-aboard boat. The lifestyle is unique and gives you the opportunity to enjoy both the beauty and relaxation of being on the water. How awesome is that?

Although floating homes can be moved, they rarely are; unlike houseboats and live-aboard boats, floating homes have no propulsion power of their own. Most do not have motors they are merely buoyant rafts or platforms that are securely tied to the dock.

Moorage fees in marinas start at about $400 a month, depending on the size of the float and the location; strata-titled water lots start at $250,000. These homes receive water, sewage service and get their electricity by being plugged into the electrical grid. Floating house sizes range from between 400 to 3,000 square feet, and are cost from $40,000 to $1 million.

Photo Credit: Judith Nazarewicz

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Photo Credit: Judith Nazarewicz

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 People have been living in floating homes on the West Coast for more than 150 years and it used to be that if you didn't have the money to purchase land you could just throw up a shack on a raft of some sort and call it home. The first float homes on the West Coast were log cabins built on log floats. These floating structures were not only used for living but also for business.

For many years, floating logging camps and fishing camps have been a way sustaining life on the West Coast of British Columbia. Sometimes these camps were treasured for their pleasures and freedoms but other times they were blamed for their loneliness and isolation.

As a matter of fact there are still quite a few active floating logging camps on the Pacific West Coast.

Photo Credit: Judith Nazarewicz

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Not familiar with Victoria BC? Here are some books that you might find interesting.

On the other hand, if you want to learn more about float homes and the adventures of living in these floating communities then I recommend the books below that will provide you with a deeper insight. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Photo Credit: Judith Nazarewicz

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Photo Credit: Judith Nazarewicz

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Photo Credit: Judith Nazarewicz

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Over the years I have lived many different dwellings. I have lived in farm house, a pole house, a log house, an apartment, a quaint little cottage on the ocean, a 5000 sq. house on our ranch, in a camper,a tent, a yacht and in a cabin on the lake. Every dwelling was unique had it's pros and cons, but in the end they all seemed to have their own personality if that is at all possible. So I was just wondering if money wasn't a concern, what would you choose to live in?

The floating community of Fisherman's Wharf has it's own resident harbour seals that are loads of fun to hang out with especially with all the fresh fish at the market.

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