Don't be afraid to ask
Elena, your questions are the questions all of us who were not brought up with boats ask when we first become interested in them. I hope no one makes fun of the questions because nobody's born knowing this stuff. If you end up buying a small trailerable boat you will probably be towing it on the trailer to public boat launches at your local state parks, where you can launch and park for free. This is true of small powerboats, but we're a sailboat forum here, just in case you didn't know. You should go to wherever you have seen boats in the past to start getting information on all your questions. Ask the boaters where you can go to take a beginner's course or whether your state requires a boating license, and how to take the course for it. If you know where there's a marina, go to their office and ask all of your questions. They'll have the best answers and probably a bulletin board filled with information on teachers and courses. When you get far enough along you'll find the answer to your main question is that most people pay for a slip or mooring at a marina to have a home for their boat for the season and then pay by the day when they visit other marinas. The daily fee is about the same cost as a motel room on land (more for the biggest boats). You usually phone ahead to the marina to make sure they have a place for you or call them on the VHF (marinas and bridges have their own radio channels). There are also free public mooring areas and permitted anchorages along the coast that your nautical chart will indicate. There are also guide books that people pick up at the beginning of the season which tells them the same things.
