Boat

Boats are essentially vehicles on the water, first introduced in the expansion pack The Sims 3: Island Paradise. There are two types of boats: normal boats and houseboats. The former one is used only for transport, while the latter is a travel/house hybrid.

Boats
The normal kind of boat can be bought through Buy Mode. There are three main types of boats: paddleboats, sailboats and speedboats. There are also aquasleds, also known as jet skis.

Boats are very similar to cars. Just like a car, a boat requires a space to be mounted on. This is not the parking space the car uses, obviously, but rather a boat stand. The difference between the parking space and a boat stand is that, besides from one holding cars and the other boats, you can purchase a boat from the boat stand directly. Be wary of this, or you might find that you do not have enough boat stands for all the boats you have bought.

NPC Boats
Like their land counterparts, NPCs will use boats to get around from island to island. FOr example, the newspaper delivery boy/girl will now use the aquasled to reach your houseboat if you are not docked. This also goes for the law enforcement, pizza delivery, repair technician and other service NPCs.

Taxis are also avaliable in boat form, recognized from their yellow color and taxi sign. Sims will use these taxis if they do not have a boat of their own.

Houseboats
Houseboats are a new type of residential lot. The biggest point that differentiates houseboats from all previous residential lots is that it is mobile. LIterally. Similar to normal residential lots, Sims are able to build a house upon a platform of which they are allowed to cruise around the seas. Note that these houseboats offer smaller land area to build, but interestingly enough you are not restricted much other than that. There are no restrictions on what you are allowed to put on your houseboats, no matter how much it weighs.

An important component of said houseboats is the new houseboat control port. This port, similar to the mailbox and dustbin, is automatically given to you and can be placed anywhere, but not duplicated or deleted. This control port is very important as this is the only way in which you can move your houseboat. To move your houseboat, simply click on the control port and choose "Move Houseboat". You will then be taken to Map View, where you can click the point of interest that you'd like to visit (provided it's in the water).

Another thing to note is that with houseboats, Sims will do a lot of teleporting. If your Sim has to work, he or she will teleport to the carpool outisde your dock because as of right now, carpools are still strictly land vehicles.