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In the city with one of the most expensive square meters in Brazil, engineer Vinicius Freitas and architect Luciana Tenorio decided to live on a sailboat to escape rent. They pay R$ 2,300 for the wet berth at Marina Itajaí and share the dock with other families who chose to live on a boat.
While their neighborhood neighbor signs a rental contract that exceeds R$ 10,000 per month, Vinicius Freitas wakes up gently swaying on the water and pays R$ 2,300 for the berth where they live. He and his wife, architect Luciana Tenorio, traded their apartment for a 32-foot sailboat called Nomad Wind, anchored at Marina Itajaí, on the northern coast of Santa Catarina. The calculation that made this couple swap bricks for a hull is the same type of math that many people in expensive cities are doing in their heads today.
The case made the pages of Exame in September 2024, in a report by journalist Júlia Storch that put side by side the two ways of living by the sea in the same city. Vinicius, who is an engineer and sailor, has been living on board for seven years, with the last four alongside Luciana. The decision to live on a sailboat was not born from a fad or a fleeting adventure: it was the response of someone who looked at the price per square meter in Itajaí and concluded that escaping rent fit better in their budget than continuing to pay for it. And the couple is far from being the only ones.
The calculation that made the couple swap bricks for a hull
The couple pays R$ 2,300 per month for the wet berth at Marina Itajaí, a value that already includes internet, security, and 24-hour assistance. Add to this about R$ 1,000 in monthly maintenance for the 32-foot sailboat, and the cost of living on the water is around R$ 3,300 per month, with a permanent view of the channel.
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Now look to the other side of the street. According to the Exame report, a one-bedroom apartment in Beira-Rio, the most valued area of the city, costs around R$ 5,000 in rent, excluding the condominium fee. And in the most coveted addresses of this same neighborhood, rents exceed R$ 10,000 per month. Escaping rent, in this scenario, stopped being just talk and became a spreadsheet: living on a sailboat literally costs half the price of a small apartment on solid ground.
It’s not that the boat itself is cheap. It’s that the land in Itajaí has become too expensive. The wet berth functions as a kind of aquatic condominium: you pay for the water surface where the hull is anchored and for the surrounding structure, and you take the house with you. For those who already own the boat, the difference between the two worlds appears every 10th of the month when the bill arrives.
Who are Vinicius and Luciana, the couple of Nomad Wind
Vinicius Freitas did not come to the sea by chance or because of rent. “I entered the world of sailing at 14, through competitions,” the engineer told Exame. The relationship with water comes from adolescence, and living on a sailboat was the natural outcome for someone who never wanted to stay away from it. It’s been seven years living on board, a routine that for him is simply normal life.
The recent turning point in the story is named Luciana Tenorio. An architect, she accepted the challenge of trading fixed walls for the sway of the hull and has been living with Vinicius on the Nomad Wind for four years. It’s no small thing for a couple to give up square meters, a closet, a backyard, to fit into a vessel of about ten meters and still describe the choice as a gain, not a sacrifice.
Luciana’s architect’s eye, by the way, helps to understand why the project works. Living on a boat with comfort is, above all, a matter of making the most of every centimeter, and that’s exactly what her profession trains her for. The sailboat stopped being just a means of transport or a leisure object and became an address, with everything an address needs to have.
What it’s like to live in 32 feet without giving up the basics
Foot is the measure the nautical world uses for the length of the hull, and 32 feet is equivalent to just under ten meters. It seems cramped, and it is indeed compact, but the Nomad Wind has the essentials of a real home. On board, there is room for a bedroom with a double bed, a living room with a convertible sofa, a bathroom with a shower and heated water, and a fully equipped kitchen. No camping improvisation: it’s a year-round residence.
Here it’s worth explaining a term that appears all the time in this life and that many people have never heard. Wet berth is the space in the water, docked at the pier, where the boat stays while serving as a home. There is also the dry berth, where the vessel is out of the water, on land, usually for those who only sail occasionally. Those who live on board need the wet berth because that’s where the house floats, connected to the marina’s electricity, water, and internet.
The detail that most surprises those who imagine a Spartan life is the comfort. The wet berth at Marina Itajaí offers internet, 24-hour security, and assistance whenever something needs repair. The resident trades square footage for location and view, and gains a structure that many apartment complexes do not have. Living on a sailboat, in this arrangement, is more akin to a chosen lifestyle than a sacrifice.
The floating community that few know exists
The most unexpected part of the story might be discovering that Vinicius and Luciana have dock neighbors. About 10 families currently live aboard their sailboats at Marina Itajaí, forming a small community that lives on the water in the heart of the city. They are not weekend tourists: these are people who have made the boat their permanent address, with the same routine as those living in a building.
This number was much higher before. According to Exame, during the pandemic, more than 30 families lived on boats at the marina at the same time, attracted by the combination of natural isolation, open space, and predictable costs. The movement cooled down afterward, but left a base of residents who turned the option into something permanent, not an emergency escape.
The infrastructure helps explain why it works. Marina Itajaí has been operating since 2016, has 405 dry and wet berths and offers internet, parking, laundry, locker room, 24-hour security, restaurant, and even a helipad, according to Revista USE. The complex carries environmental certifications like ISO 14.001 and the Blue Flag seal, and is close to a supermarket, hospital, pharmacy, and shops, making daily life as practical as any neighborhood.
“This welcoming and safe environment makes Marina Itajaí a special place for those who wish to live on the water,” said Carlos Gayoso de Oliveira, the marina director, to the report. The statement summarizes why the wet berth has become sought after: it is not about adventure, but about living on a boat with the same convenience as those on land.
Why Itajaí became too expensive for so many people
To understand the rush for the water, one must look at what happened on land. Itajaí recorded a real estate appreciation of about 90% in the last five years, according to data cited in reports, and even ranked third in the country in the square meter appreciation ranking. The city is the largest nautical hub in Brazil and attracts people from other regions and abroad, further driving up prices.
The situation has not eased since then, quite the opposite. In January 2026, the FipeZAP index placed Itajaí among the four cities with the most expensive square meter in Brazil, with an average around R$ 12.8 thousand per square meter, and one-bedroom properties, precisely the most sought after, led the appreciation in the city. In luxury addresses, such as Praia Brava, the square meter already exceeds R$ 30 thousand. Those who want to escape rent find an increasingly tight market.
It is in this meeting of accounts that the couple’s choice ceases to seem eccentric. When the small apartment costs twice as much as the wet berth, living on a sailboat becomes a rational decision, not an eccentricity. The water, in a place where the square meter on land skyrockets, became the cheapest address with the best view, and it was here that this silent community was formed.
The other side of living on a boat, which the dock doesn’t show at first glance
Before it seems like paradise, it’s worth the honest counterpoint. Living on a boat charges a price that is not on the bill: reduced space, constant maintenance, and a daily relationship with the weather and tide that no apartment requires. The R$ 1 thousand monthly maintenance of the sailboat is not a detail, it’s part of the cost of living, and it tends to grow as the hull ages.
There is also the learning curve. You don’t live on board without knowing the basics of navigation, boat care, and marina routine, and this is where Vinicius’s experience as a sailor since he was 14 makes a difference. For those who have never set foot on a sailboat, the romanticization of life on the water hides a technical learning that takes time. The choice works better for those who already have some familiarity with the sea.
Even so, for a specific profile of resident, the equation works. Those who are willing to give up space, view maintenance as a fixed cost, and value being in the center with a view of the canal find in the wet berth a concrete way to escape rent. It’s not for everyone, but for the couple of Nomad Wind, it became home, not an experiment.
The story of Vinicius and Luciana shows a turnaround that the rental crisis has been causing quietly: in the most expensive city to live by the sea in Santa Catarina, the smartest option for some has ceased to be the apartment and has started to float. Living on a sailboat, which sounds like a distant dream, has become for about 10 families an equation that simply works better than the brick one. And while the square meter on land rises, the trend is that more people will ask the same question.
And you, would you face the daily sway and tight space to cut the cost of living in half and escape rent, or do you prefer the security of solid ground even paying much more? Tell us in the comments if you would be willing to trade the apartment for a wet berth in Itajaí.
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