More and more people are taking to the water to escape Bermuda's high cost of housing.

It isn't for everybody, and there are some disadvantages, but for those choosing to live on boats the pros far out weight the cons. It has become a viable alternative to the high costs of housing in Bermuda.

"It is expensive, too expensive for rents here on the Island," said taxi driver Harry Robinson who lives on his 36-foot sailboat Harmie with his wife Amelia and their three teenage children.

The boat is moored in Dockyard and even with the annual fee he pays to keep it there, Robinson is able to save considerably on his housing expenses.

"I don't have a problem living on the boat and neither does my family," said Robinson.

"At first they had a problem, they thought it was very close quarters, but as time went by they got used to it and now they feel comfortable. We have no intention of going anywhere. We've adjusted to everything here.

"I've always loved to be around the ocean and I taught my children to swim off this boat."

The Robinsons have been living on the boat at Dockyard for six years, one of about a dozen families or single men doing so. The boats have walk-on moorings and have security gates for which each boat owner has a key.

They all have got to know each other and it is like a typical neighbourhood with each resident looking out for each other's property.

Amelia grows her own vegetables (green peppers and tomatoes) on the stern of the boat while her sons like to fish in the area and often bring home supper.

"I've adjusted now, as long as the kids are happy,"' mom says.

Sometimes Amelia, who hails from the Philippines, cooks for Filipino crew members who work on the cruise ships tied up just a few yards away.

"The boat has been in the water 11 years now," said Mr. Robinson who built it himself a decade ago. The boat seldom leaves its moorings even though he likes to be out on the water.

"My wife and children really don't like to sail like I do, so if I want to go sailing I go with one of my neighbours. If there is a hurricane coming the manager of the marina would ask us to move out. I do have a mooring down in Ely's Harbour so I could go to that area. I have had to move out three times."

The boat has all the amenities of home, television, stove, fridge with freezer and a microwave.

People are living on boats in various parts of the Islands, some not willing or able to pay the rents, and some just because they like the idea of living on the water.

"I saw it coming with the cost of housing these days," said Robinson.

"I refuse to go out there and pay the rents that they are charging today.

"I like it as it is but in due time we are hoping that we can have enough money to buy a house. Living here will help us as well.

"People have asked me 'how can you do it, living in such close quarters', but we're so used to it that it is like living in a house. We're coping quite well."

That is how New Zealand born Daryl Sheffield sees it. He left a bad housing situation six and a half years ago and has now found solitude and peace of mind on the water at Dockyard aboard his trimaran.

"I was living for a year in a housing situation where there were a lot of people living in there," said Sheffield who shared a four-bedroom house with seven others.

"The housing was really tight, it just got too crazy," said Sheffield, a marine trimmer who makes canvas goods for boats for a local company.

"I decided to buy a boat because with the price of rent I could save money," said Sheffield.

"I've been in boating all my life. For a boat my size, 41-feet, I'm paying $4,500 a year for a walk-on mooring that includes power and water. And if you pay a year in advance the marina gives you a percentage off.

"I have quite a bit of space on the inside. Although the boat is large, you are only using the middle hull.

"It used to be a charter boat down in the islands, but a Bermudian guy bought it and lived on it for a few years on and off. Unfortunately, he died and I bought it from his son. The boat is 32 years old."

Being single has made living on a boat easier for Sheffield, who doesn't see himself returning to living in a house any time soon.

"Personally no I wouldn't take it, I love the lifestyle of living on the water," he says of living on Troika, which is Russian for a three-horse drawn carriage.

"I wouldn't go back on land, not for the long term anyway. If we have a hurricane and the boat disappears then I'll do it for awhile, but only until I can afford another one."

And his future wife would have to be receptive to the idea of living on a boat.

"The only thing that would change would be the boat, I would buy a bigger boat," he admits.

"That's one of the reasons why I'm not married, not everybody wants to live on a boat. My goal is to sail around the world so I would be looking for someone interested in doing that as well.

"I like being on my own where I can sit off, play my guitar and read a book, stuff like that. I have mates who will come up and stay aboard overnight."

Mr. Sheffield continued: "It's very common to find people living on boats in New Zealand. People are living on boats all over the world. When you read boating magazines, you'll find out there are a lot of people doing this."

He added: "You can't give me a one-bedroom apartment bigger than my boat!"