living on a narrowboat river cam

There are now thousands of canal boats on Britain’s inland waterways, although it’s difficult to estimate exactly how many of those are liveaboards. The inland boating community is diverse, and includes middle-aged divorcees, retired couples, young professionals, people on low incomes, and canal heritage enthusiasts. Some people like the alternative lifestyle, others hope it may be a cheaper lifestyle. Some are foreign tourists exploring England’s canals, and some boaters are able to continuously cruise because they work from home. Recent TV programmes like Canal Boat Diaries and Travels by Narrowboat show the pros and cons of living aboard.

Challenge Accepted!

If you are thinking of living on a narrowboat, here are some things to consider: You will have to declutter your possessions in order to manage living in a smaller space with limited storage. Extra chores will include disposing of your own domestic waste and sewage, and regularly refilling the water tank. Engine maintenance is essential, as your 12volt electric supply and even the running water in the taps will depend on it. The changing price of red diesel will affect your home budget and you will need to buy propane gas in bottles. If your work or personal commitments make continuously cruising impractical, you will also need to find a mooring.

At Foxboats marina, we have a mooring stipulation from our local authority of no more than 10 months out of 12 occupancy of the boats on site.  However, many liveaboards choose to continuously cruise during the summer, and take a mooring in a marina like ours for the winter. This way you enjoy the convenience of a mooring for half the year, and exploring the waterways when the weather is warmer. Many moorings have a good sense of community where you can get to know your neighbours.

Taking the Plunge

If you have considered the potential challenges of life afloat then you are ready to take the plunge. It can be quite freeing to live with less material possessions. Consider the sense of independence and accomplishment knowing that you are responsible for supplying your own gas and electric. You’ll enjoy feeling connected to nature when watching swans, ducks and moorhens glide by outside your windows. You will become more economical with water and you may like to learn new skills such as marine engine maintenance, boat refurbishment or painting roses and castles. The towpath may now be your running track or cycle route if you want to get fit. Will you settle down on a mooring or will you consider a new career as a roving canal trader?

I love it when I discover a fictional character that lives on a boat. Here are three that you may not have heard of: Movies That Feature Narrowboating Life.

You may also like: The Truth About Living Aboard A Boat: 3 Books You Should Read

I spent 13 years living on canal boats and during that time many people I met assumed that I was bravely living without any modern comforts. People would ask me if it was cold in winter, and whether living aboard was a bit like camping? But nothing could be further from the truth: Modern narrowboats are extremely comfortable. Here are four surprising creature comforts you will find on a Fox narrowboat.

Read: Is it Cold in Winter? The Answer Might Surprise You!

If you’ve already enjoyed a few hire boat holidays and now feel ready to take the next step towards owning your own boat. Here are our top three suggestions for getting a boat: Get Afloat! 3 Ways to Get a Boat.

But if you’d like to ‘try before you buy’, check availability now for your next narrowboat holiday, to see if this is the right lifestyle for you.

Peggy

For more inside info about life on boats, enter your email address in the box in the right side bar (‘Follow blog’) and we’ll send you articles direct to your in -box. (We never share or sell email addresses, this is just to send you our latest blog posts.)

Credit: Deposit Photos Narrowboat on the River Cam 

The post The Pro’s and Cons of Living on a Canal Boat appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

Are you a fan of TV’s Great Canal Journeys?

Have you enjoyed watching Kevin Shelley’s Travels by Narrowboat?

Are you an arm-chair narrowboater?

Then you’ll love BBC Four’s Canal Boat Diaries.

This series follows Robbie Cumming as he embarks on a 300-mile journey across the Midlands and northern England in his narrowboat. It’s a soothing video diary of one man and his boat, soaking up the scenery and visiting canal side towns and villages along the way. If you don’t have a boat yourself it’s the perfect way to sit back, relax and enjoy the narrowboat lifestyle, from home.

Robbie has previously done bar work, graphic design and illustration while travelling on his boat ‘Naughty Lass’. He says, “It’s my home, work space and transport, rolled into one.”

In the first episode Robbie says, “This program is all about showing you the real side of boating.” For example he has been living aboard without a fridge, and so he meets up with a marine electrician who helps him to install a 12 volt fridge on board. Later he is shown pumping out his sewage tank. But these moments of showing the gritty “real side” of boating are far outnumbered by the stunning, sunshiney scenery viewed as sweeping, stunning aerial shots.

At the beginning of the episode he tackles a tunnel in Staffordshire which is so low that he has to remove everything from the canal boat roof, and crouch down while steering it through! As he travels, filming the local scenery, locks and waterways, he shares canal facts and history. For example, he explains that snake bridges are ingeniously designed so that a horse can cross the canal without the line snagging. (Before engines came along all canal boats were horse drawn.) In Staffordshire he travelled some narrow canals with single locks, and really narrow tunnels, but his goal is to eventually explore all of the canals and navigable rivers in the UK.

He visits a still-working Victorian Pottery that looks like the set of Peaky Blinders, and travels the Harecastle Tunnel, which takes 40 minutes and is dubbed the ‘Scarecastle Tunnel’. The throbbing engine echoes loudly in the darkness, but originally there was a towpath for the horses passing through this tunnel. This programme shows what little random adventures one can have while exploring England by narrowboat. Robbie discovers ancient canal-side mile markers that look like gravestones, he pays his respects at Ian Curtis’s grave, (lead singer of Joy Division), meets the locals in village pubs, explores Macclesfield, and rises to the challenge of cooking on board with whatever he can find, having not seen a shop for a while.

It’s a pleasure to watch the spectacular scenery and sunshine, drifting past aqueducts, coloured narrowboats and green fields, all accompanied by relaxing music, and a likeable, easy-going presenter. Robbie thinks the Peak Forest Canal in Derbyshire has to be one of the most scenic waterways.

So could he ever go back to living on land?

“I don’t think so… This is my lifestyle now. I’ve had to adapt to it. I think I’d miss it if I gave it up.”

Is this the most relaxing programme on TV right now? Ease into your sofa, lose yourself in the landscape and see for yourself.

Watch Canal Boat Diaries on BBC iPlayer. Or catch up with Robbie on his YouTube channel.

You can also help to fund Robbie’s travels around the canal system and increase the quality of his narrowboat ‘voyagelogs’ by supporting him on Patreon. He now makes around two videos a month, each one taking over 20 hours to make filming, researching, editing, voice overs and writing and recording his own music. The Canal Boat Diaries are not only his passion but thanks to the viewers, are now his source of income.

Ready for your own canal adventure? Try booking a daytrip or a narrowboat holiday now. Check availability here.

Hey! Are you new here? Click ‘Blog’ (top right) and look for ‘Follow Blog’ in the right sidebar to receive more insider knowledge about canals and narrowboating. (We never share or sell email addresses, we’ll only be sending you our local, insider knowledge, every two weeks.)

The post Robbie Cumming Stars in Canal Boat Diaries appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.