You expect to be able to drive your car up to your front door, why would you want any less for your boat? Make the most out of your time on the water by cutting out the trip to a marina or to a ramp to launch. Instead, roll out of bed and wander down to your own dock, like the ones at these waterfront homes.
If you always want to keep your boat in the water, make sure to be on the lookout for a deep-water dock, like this one at Nimaha. This historic residence on Beauchamp Point in Rockport offers easy access to the excellent boating in Penobscot Bay. Just down the road is another deep-water dock, this one sitting right on Rockport Harbor at the historic Community House. The well-protected dock has floats and a mooring.
Though there’s a lot to see and do at Sears Cottage on Gilkey Harbor in Islesboro, we’re guessing you’ll still be drawn by the call of the ocean, which is easily answered from the substantial deep-water dock with its western western-facing views of Penobscot Bay back to the Camden Hills. On Bremen Long Island, an all-tide dock and loading wharf at Aspinwall can get you out onto Flying Passage and Muscongus Bay.
Another option you might consider for your boat is a mooring. Access the deep deep-water mooring in Punch Bowl Cove from the shoreline of this 178-acre peninsula with a gracious shingle cottage property. You could also take a little pressure off by sharing responsibility for a dock. The shared dock at Hammetts Cove Estate offers space for a dinghy to row out to a mooring.
Another riverfront home, Blue Sky Farm, in Essex, MA, sits on the 658± feet of frontage on the main channel of the Essex River and has a fully licensed boardwalk and floating walk. It’s just 15 minutes by boat to Choate Island, Crane Wildlife Refuge, and the sandy shores of Crane Beach with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. Back in Maine, this home on Hupper Island is only accessible by boat which is why it is perfectly set up for ease of access. The deep-water dock with floats and moorings on Port Clyde Harbor are essential, and the private sand beach is an appreciated bonus!
The kayak and paddleboard racks are just for fun. Fish Point is another home that you’ll need a boat to access. When you get there, use the dock, boat ramp, or three moorings. At Allen Point Cove, set off from your private dock on Salt Pond and paddle the four-mile long pond or head out into the Blue Hill Bay.
If you prefer fresh water to salt, head to Lake Champlain! At 931 Red Rock Road, there’s a dock and 2 Hazelett moorings, as well as a swim platform. Or you could live on water somewhere between salt and fresh; Sunny Acres on the Back River actually has two docks. Just three miles downriver will get you to the ocean.
If a waterfront home is calling your name, check out even more properties here.