Knowledge before contact
Course correction on the roadmap, recorded as DEC-007: the email to the marina — until now the “this week” critical-path task — moves to the end of Phase 0. Before any marina hears from me, I want three things: a licence path underway, a couple of nights actually slept on a houseboat, and a boat archive with real prices in it. Walk in as an informed counterpart, not a dreamer with a brochure.
The first survey pass already paid for itself:
The licence has a cliff exactly where my boat is. The entry-level Carta de Marinheiro allows daytime navigation on boats up to 12 metres — and the Apartboat XL is 12.00 m exactly, zero margin. The Overblue 44, at 13.5 m, is over the limit entirely. The next licence up, Patrão Local (~€500, no prerequisite, can be taken directly), removes the size cap and adds night navigation — which also erases the daytime-return constraint that SCN-001 flagged. Working conclusion: skip Marinheiro, go straight to Patrão Local. Details in the courses research.
The micro-POC books itself. The Homeboat Company rents actual mini floating houses — AC, induction hob, wifi, terrace — moored at Marina Parque das Nações, which happens to be DEC-004’s option B. A 2–3 night midweek stay with the laptop and the sensors is simultaneously a comfort test, a remote-workday test, and reconnaissance of the exact marina I might live in. Shortlist in the rentals research.
The market has real numbers now. Apartboat XL from ~€146k+VAT new, a used 2022 at €219k; Nautilus as the narrow-beam counterweight (used from €85k, and 3.6 m beam travels by road legally); the Overblue 44 confirmed CE category B — more seaworthiness than the estuary demands — at roughly 2–3× the money. All filed in the boat archive.
Gate G0 is defined: course booked, ≥2 nights slept aboard, ≥5 models priced in the archive. Then, and only then, the marina gets its email.