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I've been staying about a boat for the last four months. In that time it's been sometimes cold, sometimes wet, but never so different to living ashore that I couldn't see myself enjoying living aboard at a permanent marina berth (as opposed to, say, camping, which would get real old after a few months). The difference between living aboard a well-equipped boat and living ashore mainly comes down to space. Three of us lived very well in a space which, assessed from a landlubber's perspective, is an inhumane housing situation.

What I've come to realise is that if the design of the space is good, living in a small space such as a boat is perfectly reasonable for a long time, and that our desire to live in spacious accommodations ashore is often misplaced. I'd gladly live in a boat-sized (10-20m by 4-6m) unit ashore- still perfectly liveable, you trade off mobility for fixed power and water, no bilge or fouling or slapping halyards.

Undoubtedly, a unit of this type (studio apartment, effectively) would still be more expensive than living on a boat. The property market is in shambles.