Narrow boat
Living on a narrowboat after retirement was one of my ambitions while I was at work. I've hired narrow boats a few times and absolutely love the slower pace of life and living in the worlds best linear nature reserve. The canal system should be one of our most treasured national assets. However, I fear I, and the OP, have missed the boat (no pun intended) for the following reasons:
- Living on the cut is now highly regulated by the CRT who regard boaters as cash-cows to be squeezed until they squeal. And with reducing Government funding that's only going to get worse.
- Canal living has become so crowded there is little space left. In popular areas or near to the facilities we all take for granted you daren't move your boat to collect water or get a pump-out for fear of losing your 'spot'. Depending on your chosen waterway in more remote areas it can be very difficult to moor up and owing to CRT's reduced spending on maintenance, towpaths are either overgrown or in a very poor state of repair.
- Crime levels for those mooring nearer towns/cities are on the increase with thefts from/damage to boats going un-policed.
- The canals are being used as dumping ground for those who otherwise might be homeless. On a canal near me in the Midlands there is a stretch which has been taken over by junkies and wineos. They buy old wrecks of plastic cruisers - most don't even have an engine - tie them up on the canal near shops and get partying. The towpath is a disgrace with bottles and rubbish strewn everywhere. I've stopped walking my dog there because of contamination by broken glass and human waste and I've also witnessed cyclists/pedestrians using the towpath being subject to abuse and threats!
- Living in a marina would be my idea of hell. 6 feet away from your neighbours and still subject to the whims of the marina owner or operator. No ta.
Having said all that I still love the idea and admire anyone who can make it work for them. As for the practicalities, this might offer some answers
Narrowboat Forum | Living On A Narrowboat
Agree with all of that. We looked very carefully at all the options UK and abroad over a period of several years leading up to retirement. We ended up concluding that we didn’t want to live long term in a corridor on the UKs claustrophobic and shallow network, opting instead for the greater freedom and adventure of a 21m x 4.2m 57 ton 100 year old Dutch barge on the waterways of Europe. We spent a marvellous 14 years cruising the extensive network of rivers lakes and canals of Western Europe in France, Belgium, Holland, and a little bit of Germany. It’s a way of life that gives great opportunities, but also makes considerable demands...especially if you can’t afford, like most of us, to pay someone else to do everything for you. So, I became a plumber, a metalworker, a welder, a diesel mechanic, a carpenter, electrician, heating engineer, not to mention having to take a Navigation exam in French, and radiocommunication qualification. Learning French, German and a bit of Dutch proved rather useful, not only did you need to be able to speak on VHF, but being able to communicate and negotiate as a necessity with all the suppliers, boatyards, dry docks, lock keepers and suchlike you encountered. Freedom and autonomy is great...but means you are at times completely on your own, and need to be able to cope with whatever crops up.
There was a friendly and helpful floating community, a consequence no doubt of all being in the same boat...more so I have to admit than in the Motorhome community at large (excepting of course Wildcampers).
Transport is a problem, enjoying all this freedom and autonomy means ending up on a regular basis in the middle of nowhere with a need to go and get something. A bike becomes an essential, but these things grow don’t they? We ended up eventually with bikes, a scooter, and a car on the back deck!
So why aren’t we still doing it? Well, old age and decrepitude in large measure, both myself and the ship. It involves hard physical work at times, especially in emergencies...which do arise. It is true ‘a boat is a hole in the water for pouring money into’, at some point you have to say ENOUGH!! And more than anything the increasing burden of legislation and regulation making everything more difficult and expensive, the proliferation of people demanding money for taxes, licences, penalties and so on began to take the fun and freedom out of it.
Everything associated with boats costs two or three times more than domestic equivalents. Someone has hinted at using domestic equipment...we did...and spent 14 years trying expensively to feed all this gubbins with 240v power. With hindsight, and with our new perspective of motorhoming, it would have been wiser to go down the 12V, led, diesel, gas and
solar panel route.
But ignore all this one of the greatest privileges of life is making your own mistakes. Whatever, LIFE IS NOT A REHEARSAL, so just get on with it!!!