Watching Ozark, Wondering: "What's It Like To Live On A Big Lake?"

[Totem Polar]

I have a ton of friends who live on lakefront property, mainly because there is a lot of it around here. The only real downside is that it’s absurdly expensive to buy in.

I especially like the tradition out at a Doc friend of mine’s place: at 4pm each night, the locals engage in a cocktail hour cruise. Folks pile into their boats with manhattans or glasses of red wine, and slowly cruise around the lake in a boat train, waiving at other folks on the shore. Takes about an hour and a half to do; it’s a small lake.

At any rate, I’d totally do the lake thing here if I could. It’s on the lottery list, along with that Singer Porsche and the collection of Heirloom Precision 1911s.

[JTQ]

My in-laws had a place on a lake in mid-state Maine. The boat went in the water in the spring and came out of the water in the fall. It was stored inside a building local to the lake.

They had a dock they built that also went into the water in the spring and came out of the lake in the fall. This was stored on the property.

Every spring, they worked their butts off cleaning up the debris on the beach in front of their place. It wasn't trash, but predominantly leaves that washed up on shore. The beach was small, but nice, but if they hadn't raked up the leaf debris each year, the beach would have been closer to a swamp. They'd pack away 30-40 large trash bags of leaves and take them to the dump in their station wagon each spring.

Their lot was next to the public boat ramp, and they shared a beach with their next door neighbor, a couple who are probably in their late 90's if they are still alive. Since their place was close to the public ramp, some folks thought their beach was a public beach. Additionally, while the neighbor couple knew the etiquette of the beach, since they were older, and didn't always come to their place on the lake, but their adult children, nieces/nephews/friends/ect., and their families, were often the ones using their property, beach etiquette was not always followed.

As someone who grew up spending time on Lake Erie, when you say "big lake" what comes to my mind is Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario, etc. I'd expect your boat is coming out of the water in the winter on all those lakes.

[RoyGBiv]

To be honest with you, rural living isn't for anyone who has lived in the city their whole life. It's a different pace, place, and culture.

RR... I thought most of your reply was spot on, but I'll offer a differing opinion on this last part....

I was born and raised in NYC, all the way through HS. From the time I was 12 I knew I was leaving as soon as possible. Went upstate to school. Living in a more rural setting only confirmed my desire to GTFO of the Big city.

Eventually found my way to rural NC, living in the woods with my nearest neighbor nearly a mile away. I laugh today remembering how LOUD it was out there. The damn whippoorwills every morning. The owls, frogs, crickets and cicadas every night. Absolutely LOVED it. Can't wait to go back to that way of living.

I think if you're of the mindset that city life is not for you, it's possible to make the transition. But you have to be open to changing your pace and your expectations. If you can't live without Starbucks and "Genuine NY Pizza", if you're the guy that would honk, get mad and pass across a double yellow because the horse/cattle/hay/logging trailer in front of you is going too slow, country life aint for you.

Wife is talking about living back near/on an ocean.... IMO, ocean life is way too expensive in upkeep and way too small/expensive in land area. 10+ acres on a good sized lake would be paradise to me...

As far as the OP's boat questions... a boathouse with a lift solves most of your worries. Can be done economically or extravagantly. I imagine my boathouse with an upper party deck, half bath with outside shower, fish cleaning station (of course) and a water slide. YMMV.

[JTQ]

Regarding the rural thing - with that Maine lake, for most of the years I spent at that place, there was no phone in the house, and no TV, though you could pick up radio, but it was limited. The lake was in somewhat of a crater, and even when cell phone service became "a thing", you needed to drive about five miles up to the top of the hill to get cell phone reception. When my wife would take the kids there without me, we'd schedule approximate times when she'd call, so I'd be available to talk.

Of course, at that time, in my regular house in Northern Maine, there were only 3 TV stations, one local, that actually transitioned through different networks, sometimes CBS, sometimes ABC, sometimes NBC, depending on what the program was, one was PBS, and one was Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC).

[Totem Polar]

Y’know, having grown up in lakeville, and on lakefront property, I should make a better effort.

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?

Around here, boats come out for the winter—which we still get every year

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.

There is nothing stopping people from pulling up to most property, but despite that, it just doesn’t seem to be a major issue. Most lake properties around here have epic alarm systems and other security measures—if one can afford the place, they can afford cameras and a private security co-op

3) Is there a security concern of people being able to come by and vandalize or steal your boat in your dock?

Could happen, but again, it really doesn’t. OMMV, of course.

4) Concerns of flooding of your home?
Lake places around here tend to gain elevation with setback, by nature’s design. River property is a bigger flood concern.

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?
Way more likely to hop in the boat and go procure sushi at one of the infinite dockside resort restaurants. Which is very fun. JMO

6) Is there a prepardness benefit for fishing from the water? Or is it too difficult to fish because of all of the boats?

Not really. Fishing is for fun. In a breakdown, there’s not enough lake stock for the whole world to instantly go all subsistence living

7) Does it just become a noise nuisance where tourists have parties on their boat in what's effectively your backyard?
Oyea. Part of the lifestyle. Unless you go remote enough (very) that people put 12 gauge slugs into offending boats. Which I’ve heard of.

8) What cities / bodies of water would you consider this as a place you'd like to live for a primary residence?
Anything in N Idaho. For real. But you’ll have to outbid the KKK (Kanye and Kim Kardashian)

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.
@maple syrup actual

Also, take a quick look here: https://spokane.craigslist.org/search/boo? I could live with one of the old, cheap, way sub 10k runabouts, no problem. I grew up on those boats. I could live *ON* some of the Cd’A-born fatties. Like shotguns, how much do you *want* to spend?

10) What unexpected things about living against a lake/river that I didn't ask and might not be considering should be considered?

I wouldn’t live on a river, unless it was in an upriver v-shaped valley. There’s a reason that the terminology for downriver topography includes the phrase “flood plain.” My grandfather’s house was on the Mississippi, and he had to eventually build a dike in his back yard. Which sort of killed the view from the dining room. Again, JMO.

[Flamingo]

I am not on the lake, but I am pretty close to the water. If you don't like seeing things like this in your yard, you probably don't want to live in nature.

[Joe in PNG]

Old time Lake County FL person here, and the family has lived on various large and small lakes for many decades.

So, there's advantages and disadvantages, but if I could afford to live on Lake Harris or Monroe or Dora, I would in a heartbeat.

[Crashpad]

I can drive two hours or less in any direction and be on a large lake. in any one of three states. I grew up playing, partying and working on and near them. I just got off the Tennessee River, between two of them, a couple of hours ago. In my experience if you can afford to live on one, the positives outweigh the negatives for most folks.

Pontoon boats are versatile and fun. Jet Skis and ski boats are fun if that's your thing. You can fish off of anything that floats. Small sail boats can be a lot of fun and a great thing for kids and grandkids if they are so inclined.

The newest inflatable docks are awesome if a property doesn't already have one and you just want something to swim or fish off of or relax on. $1500, some rope and a big anchor or a good tie off point on land and you can have a lot of fun without the upkeep or initial cost of building a dock until you know what you want.

Understand to start with that your property stops when the water starts, regardless of state law. People will fish, swim, etc right off your bank. You can call LEO, but in the end you'll lose that battle unless they are obviously breaking some law or coming on your actual property. Then others will just replace them. Most folks are decent and won't park seven boats together and party until midnight, blocking your view of the lake and be too loud. Some will.


I disagree with @RevolverRob about city people moving to the country, although I do understand his reasoning and agree with most of his points. I've been around hundreds at this point in my life. I'd say that one in ten don't end up embracing rural life. Normally it's apparent immediately upon settling in and often they move back to a city fairly quickly. Those that don't usually cause hell for their neighbors until they calm down and accept their mistake, move or find like minded transplants to totally ruin a good area. My insight comes from 30 plus years of living near and working at summer camps, large lake related businesses and part owning a (designed to be) short lived business that helped city people who moved to a rural area and wanted to learn to farm, garden and be self sufficient. If I had to pick my favorite ten people in my area, seven of them would be transplants from large urban centers. Maybe it's different due to regions, but this is what I've found in the southeast.

In the case of married couples, sometimes one really enjoys the change while the other never wanted to move. That leads to all kind of nastiness, destroying marriages and sometimes communities. Weekly I speak with one such person, who moved from up state New York to Georgia. Their spouse hated it and they moved back within a year. Their marriage was more important than their long term happiness and while I hate it for him, in that person's situation I completely understand.

Another couple the husband hated it here and was very vocal about it for a decade. His wife loved it and so did the kids and grandkids. He now reminds me when I see him that he hates us hicks and that it was best thing that he ever did and even if his wife moved back he was staying here. And then he makes fun of the way I talk and wants to know when I can come over to do some random job that doesn't really need doing.

[Tabasco]

Yea. It also misses out on the ticks and flies that bite, fire ants every time you walk through the yard. Copperheads that house themselves in your firewood, cottonmouths that like the long grass by your dock. Raccoons, possums, and feral cats that get into your trash cans. Squirrels and woodpeckers that destroy your house. Termites, bees, hornets, wasps, poison oak and poison ivy, rotten trees that fall on your dock/house/garage, waterbugs and cockroaches that love your house, etc.

Don't forget the rodents who take up residence in your car's engine compartment during the winter as the engine is nice and warm. They piss and shit everywhere and chew up stuff. Modern vehicles have voids that they love and are hard to get to (by humans). Just spent $400.00 for my two cars and the pee smell is finally gone, and the windshield wiper fluid works again.

[Borderland]

Never lived on a lake but knew people that did. My mom and stepdad had a place on Claytor Lk. in WV. They had a boathouse and a dock. They didn't have many neighbors and didn't like a few of them. It was a pretty rural existence. My mom hated living there as she was a very social person. Most of the summer the boat stayed tied to the dock. They put it in the boathouse in the fall and it stayed there the rest of the year. I think it was mostly a status symbol for my stepdad as he didn't fish, waterski, or do any water sports. Mostly he just drove around the lake real fast in an expensive boat.

Every time I watch Ozark it reminds me of their little slice of heaven.

Lots of people here have boats but hardly anyone has a private dock. Small boats they launch at the public dock (mostly fishermen and crabbers) or they keep their cruisers at a private marina. The rich folk don't screw around with the public docks as it's a PIA.