I don't have much experience in rural America. Always lived in big cities. I'm watching Ozark (no spoilers, please!) and it reminded me of a day I spent with a friend on his boat in Lake Murray of Columbia, SC a while back.
He gave me a tour and people just live on houses where their backyard is the lake, and they have mini docks, and they have smallish boats, and they can boat around the lake and boat to restaurants and various things that seemed interesting. I occasionally watch Mr Guns and Gear on YouTube and he has a lake in his backyard and upon looking into him, I believe he lives on Lake Murray in SC.
So now I'm watching Ozark, and I've been thinking of moving to a rural place for a while to get out of the city. So while not technically a 'gun' question, the folks here think about the world similarly to me and have a good grasp of concepts like home security and prepardness. So I figure I'll ask here.
What's it like to live with your backyard on a big lake or river? I mean some massive body of water, not a small one. I want to hear it all but here's some specific things I wonder about:
1) Do you keep your boat docked in your backyard all year round? Or does it need to come out for the winter? Probably dependent on the state you live? If it comes out for winter, is it a big hassle, or can you relatively easily roll it out of the water and store it in your own garage?
2) Is there a security concern of the ability of people to pull their boat into your backyard and have access to your backyard? Do you recommend a fence between the dock and the back of your house? Seems like it would destroy the aesthetic.
3) Is there a security concern of people being able to come by and vandalize or steal your boat in your dock?
4) Concerns of flooding of your home?
5) Do you view this as a prepardness benefit that you could potentially hop on your boat and escape your home by water should the need arise? Not really sure what a realistic scenario would be that escaping by boat would be indicated, maybe wildfire? Or some hazmat situation?
6) Is there a prepardness benefit for fishing from the water? Or is it too difficult to fish because of all of the boats?
7) Does it just become a noise nuisance where tourists have parties on their boat in what's effectively your backyard?
8) What cities / bodies of water would you consider this as a place you'd like to live for a primary residence?
9) What kind of reasonably priced boat would you recommend to a non-boat person living like this? And what would to buy, and what is expected annual maintenance / insurance / costs? I don't know anything about boats, I'm not rich, but there'd be no point in buying a house against a lake/river if I didn't also buy a small boat.
10) What unexpected things about living against a lake/river that I didn't ask and might not be considering should be considered?