Roughing it at sea?

''A ship is a bit of terra firma cut off from the main; it is a state in itself; and the captain is its king," wrote Herman Melville.

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It's true, the idea of self-sufficiency on the sea is a powerful lure. More than a few people dream of selling the house, buying a 50-foot yacht, and spending the cold months island-hopping in the Caribbean.

Boats built to indulge: CLICK FOR PHOTO ESSAY/SIDEBAR

But back in Melville's day, below-deck living conditions were dreary enough to shiver your timbers. Sailors left the world and its comforts behind at the port and were expected to endure extreme hardships for weeks at a time.

Not so today. The conveniences, if not luxuries, of both home and automobile have been transplanted to recreational boats, whether wind- or motor-powered. Gone are the cramped sleeping berths and open-air ''heads" (toilets). Say hello to GPS and DVDs.

''When the world invents it, it will find its way into a boat," said Larry Russo, whose massive Russo Marine showroom in Medford caters to what he calls ''lifestyle boaters." These young families with children, and their baby-boomer grandparents, tend to have a low tolerance for roughing it. Like public appetites for pick-up trucks and SUVs, the trend is toward comfort, space, and ease of use. Technological advances, such as touch-screen navigational systems, mean throngs of novices no longer need specialized seafaring knowledge to operate their vessels.

But the changes go deeper than that. Not simply a mode of transport, a craft like a 37-foot Riviera Flybridge Convertible is a floating hotel room.

''Tons of people live on their boats in the summer on the weekends," said Darrell Nicholson, editor of the magazine Offshore: Northeast Boating at its Best. ''It's like a poor man's summer cottage."

But the irony of modern conveniences potentially spoiling the tranquility that has drawn many to the sea is not lost on Russo. ''When I step into a boat, I leave the cellphone in the car," Russo said. ''But a lot of people want all the gadgets."

And what gizmos they can have: Standard equipment in Russo's most popular boats, like the 2005 line of Chaparral ''Signature cruisers," include microwaves, stainless-steel refrigerators, enclosed showers and toilets, plush carpeting, water heaters, carbon monoxide detectors, wood-grain dashboards, tilt steering wheels, cup holders, and CD stereo systems. The 37-foot ''350" model comes equipped with a central vacuum system, sound-proof generator, and 16,000 BTU air-conditioning unit.

This is not your grandfather's dinghy.

With stand-up cabins and true cooking and sanitary facilities, Chaparrals can sleep six; they range in price (new) from $55,000 (24 feet) to $225,000 (35 feet). But from these base prices, the sky -- or rather, the ocean depths --is the limit. Consider the myriad of options: rod holders that also secure a barbecue grill ($130 a pair), a six-CD changer ($275), custom sheet and towel sets ($300-500), cabin tables with up-down power assist (the table converts to a sleeping area; $800), Raymarine GPS and video chart-plotter ($700-1,200), radar ($2,000-4,000), and even a wireless remote ($2,000-4,000) to ''auto pilot" the boat while you're away from the helm.

''A bag of ice costs a dollar, or you can spend $1,000 for an icemaker," said Russo, who suggested that a new feature in power boating, a ''bow thruster," might be a better investment. The $5,000-$6,000 device is essentially a bow-mounted propeller that helps beginning boaters more confidently maneuver their 50-foot behemoths through channels and marinas. ''That option plays to the fear-of-boating factor," he said.

Boaters often begin small and upgrade. ''You don't buy another boat the same size. You always buy a bigger boat, that's the rule," said John Garabedian of Southborough, who hosts a syndicated radio show. ''You say it's all you need, then three years later you buy a bigger one." Garabedian began with a 26-foot Sea Ray four years ago, up-sized to a 31-footer the next, and just ordered a 35-foot Chaparral Signature. The new boat will have three flat-screen TVs and a dish that tracks satellites, choppy water notwithstanding.

Even sport fishing boats, like the 30-foot Rampage Express ($199,000) and 45-foot Rampage Convertible ($750,000), have gone posh. While the manly tackle-storage cabinets and bait coolers are anglers' necessities, how do hard-core fishermen feel about the lavish galley down below -- equipped with a two-burner ceramic cook-top, coffee maker, and gleaming cherry veneer? Or that 30-inch wide-screen LCD TV and home theater system, threatening to turn a macho tuna expedition into a lazy aquatic Sunday afternoon football party?

Each of these comforts makes it increasingly easy for people to live on-board even year-round. Take Bob Bell, 67, an avid boater since 1963. Bell persuaded his wife to sell their house in 2002 and ''upgrade" to a 42-foot Silverton. ''I don't miss [the house] at all," Bell said. ''I hated doing the lawn, the hedges, shoveling the driveway." Since his wife passed away, Bell lives full time on his boat at North Quincy's Marina Bay, a marina that has restaurants, an open-air nightclub, shops, dry storage, repair services, and slips for 685 vessels. ''This is my winter spot," Bell said, ''Summertime I go two docks over."

Bell pays $9,000 a year to keep his vessel at Marina Bay. ''It's still cheaper than owning a home," he said, sitting in the sun-filled pilot house with a view of the Boston skyline. ''I'm living in the same space as these $1 million, $1.5 million condos." Bell customized his craft with built-in bookcases, air conditioning, and a diesel furnace. ''This boat is very self-sufficient," he said.

New England-based captains like Bell get into the waters in warmer months -- May, say, through October -- for trips to Hyannis, Provincetown, and Martha's Vineyard. The promise of discovering the Northeast's lesser-known ports is a huge attraction.

''There's always a different cove, harbor, or beach to check out," said Joan Poro, of Amherst, N.H., while browsing with her husband, Ed, at the annual New England Boat Show at Bayside Expo Center in February. They fantasized about making the trek to Cuttyhunk Island (off the coast of New Bedford, last in the chain of the Elizabeth Islands) this year, or the more ambitious journey down the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida.

The Poros have a 27-foot Eastern moored on the Danvers River. They often boat downriver to Salem or Gloucester, or farther afield to Boston Harbor or Wellfleet, but are just as content to stay tied to their dock all weekend long, barbecuing dinner and visiting with fellow boaters.

At the Expo, the Poros were pricing inflatable dinghies. The sticker shock --upward of $1,000 --elicited a joke from Ed Poro: What does the word ''boat" stands for? ''Break out another thousand."

The boating lifestyle can be a slippery slope not only of gadgets and gear, but basic costs. For one, there's the fuel: ''Thirty percent more expensive at marinas," Ed Poro noted. Then there's the boat's sales tax, financing, insurance, mooring or dockage fees, winter storage costs (shrink wrapping, blocking, hauling, washing), painting, and other maintenance. Marina Bay charges $80 an hour for repair work, and $140 a foot for dockage April 15 through Nov. 1. Larry Russo estimated a year-round maintenance figure of $200 per foot.

But boaters need not go overboard with luxuries. ''Boating is a la carte," said Tina Giambro, waterfront manager at Marina Bay and producer of the TV program ''Port O' Call." ''You can search for something in your budget."

One way to reduce costs is assuming a more do-it-yourself approach, a philosophy more in tune with sailboats, which make up only 10 percent of new boat sales. Whereas power boats are about getting to the rich fishing spots fast, sailing takes patience.

''Everything now is run, run, run," said lifelong sailor Pete Theoharidis, 44, an oral surgeon from Centerville who bought a 43-foot, two-cabin Beneteau 423 about a year ago. He takes his wife and three kids, ages 7, 11, and 13, out almost every weekend of the season. ''My attraction to sailing as opposed to power boating is you're closer to nature," he said. ''You're harnessing the wind power. Engines aren't blaring away."

Recent advances in hull design provide more room down below for comforts. Theoharidis added radar and GPS to his Beneteau's basic package, paying some $200,000 total. But ''no one buys cash," according to the dealer who sold it, Dave Nolan of Cape Yachts in Harwich Port. ''Boat buying is like financing a house."

The appeal of modern boating still comes back to Melville's notion of a portable home ''a bit of terra firma" on the open sea.

''The freedom of RVs and camping is great, but there's nothing that compares to being on the water," raved Nicholson, the magazine editor. ''You spend one night on the water under the stars and you're sold."

So what if the waters are no longer uncharted? At least they remain unexplored by each new generation of boater.

Ethan Gilsdorf is a freelance writer and poet from Somerville.