Narrowboat
- Thread starter TeeDee
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Lived in one for a while. Not all year round autumn/winter. Cons like living in a corridor/hallway, cold until the burner heats up, mooring fees expensive, limited to the waterways system, some water authorities shoot hippies on sight. Pros; great if you like living in a corridor/hallway. The biggest obstacle now would be the cost both finding one in thats serviceable and mooring point and hookups and the fees. For me they always strike me as too quaint or cute and the lack of space was a problem that i could not get used to. There are other types of boat you can research though for conversion to a living space that give you a lot more room.
I'll admit the corridor claustrophobia is a bit of a concern. I'm not exactly petite.
They are what they are. However you convert them they are constrained by their design, they are after all or were, working boats. Pleasure cruisers are usually cheaper, bigger and have a lot of conversion.
I’ve been a live aboard for eleven years.
I was completely green to it & had no idea what to do as I was handed the keys & learnt very quickly as it was fast heading into 2010 winter -17.5.
So by chatting to continuous cruisers/ liveaboards & reading/watching YouTube before hand it all came together.
There’s not really any cons in my opinion so long as you are prepared to adapt to a life on water..apart from Marina prices skyrocketing, so choose wisely.
I’ve moved from a canal marina to a private river marina, much cheaper & I don’t need a £1,000.00 license.( although most here take out a 3 month one for the summer)I’m saving around £1.500.00 a year all in all.
Also if you are nesh, you’ll soon learn how to keep the fire ticking over in winter as it can be bitter cold or like an oven in the summer( it’s a steel tube after all) but I don’t find it a problem.
if you want to get an idea what it’s like, try cruising the cut on YouTube, he seems clued up.
A Kennet and Avon Canal Journey - Born Again Swindonian
A Kennet and Avon Canal Journey. Wiltshire is the finest county, with a great many things to see & do & good access to London and Bristol.
swindonian.me
I will say the Cut is very busy these days...and getting busier
I think it’s all down to these TV programs about narrow boats & affordable living or alternative lifestyle.A Kennet and Avon Canal Journey - Born Again Swindonian
A Kennet and Avon Canal Journey. Wiltshire is the finest county, with a great many things to see & do & good access to London and Bristol.
I will say the Cut is very busy these days...and getting busier
There’s also a marked increase in people being affected or dying of carbon monoxide poisoning.. why, because they don’t understand stoves or LPG gas.
I’ve also seen a lot of uninhabitable boats that’s not fit for rats, yet people exist in there somehow?
Spent 13 years living on a narrowboat with wife & 2 small children what do you want to know?
Pretty much what i've mentioned in the quote
"What were the major Con's of Narrow boat living that became an irritation / frustration ?"
Muddy towpath in the winter.Pretty much what i've mentioned in the quote
Small space, but cosy.
Limited wood storage bymutbi uses a section of the bank.
Periodic robberies.
Idiot hire boat drivers ramming us.
Loads of nature all the time.
See Kingfishers evert day, herons, kestrels, Buzzards, kites, murmerations of starlings in the reed bed, otters. Kisd moments lots of fun and novelty of having a friend who live on a boat for kids, lots of play on and in the boat. Daughter says she misses it sometimes but we ran out of space.
Actually there were a few cons..
Passers by looking in through the windows- I would stare out at them..
Occasional wierdos on the towpath.
Passers by looking in through the windows- I would stare out at them..
Occasional wierdos on the towpath.
Good Point
Also how does the costing of being on the water and mooring work? What costs were involved ?
We cruised lots. The river Thames was the nicest. I once saw a terrapin the size of a dinner plate near Bray Lock!
We had a fixed spot too on the canal. The canal used to get busy..
I once watched 2 middle aged men square up to each other over who had 'lock rights'- lots of shouting while their wives sortr the lock out. Lol..
There is a lock etiquette, especially on the river. I used to sail and have a lot of boat driving experience. Our steel NB weighed 8 tons, and I was able to stop it within its length. If it's busy the lock keeper waves boats into the lock on the river. I was wavered in and this guy in a plastic speed boat sped around me and slipped his boat in front of me as I was stopping in the lock. His boat ended up in my stop finish point and I rammed him while in full reverse thrust and sandwiched his bot between the gate and my pointy end leaving a deep v shaped dent in his boat. The lock keeper told him where to get off and hoped he had learned a lesson.
I work on the idea that if you drive your boat slow, when bad things start happening you have time, they happen slowly. These days I mostly still help mates move their boats for one reason or another and mess about is small boats.
Raising a familly on the water was just a lot of fun.
Learning the ropes
Neighbours fixing boats
She's 19 now..
We loved living on the water, even at -10.
https://flic.kr/p/2p1HpjB
https://flic.kr/p/2p1Hprv
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