Living on a Narrowboat

[Pip in a Poke]

How odd.

I was reading another forum and someone commented about 50-something men living on narrowboats after their divorce. Apparently women don't like living in them unless they are the young and hippy type.

Oh well, I'm obviously an exception to that rule then.

[d000hg]

That you're not a woman you mean?

[OwlHoot]

I thought they were made entirely of metal these days & just need blacking up once every few years.

Now you mention it, that is probably right.

I guess my mental picture of houseboats is based on Ealing comedies, with Peter Sellers or Terry-Thomas or someone putting their foot through a rotten wooden floor and practically sinking the thing!

[northernladyuk]

Now you mention it, that is probably right.

I guess my mental picture of houseboats is based on Ealing comedies, with Peter Sellers or Terry-Thomas or someone putting their foot through a rotten wooden floor and practically sinking the thing!

So you thought you would reenact it on a national scale with Brexit.

[d000hg]

I thought they ... need blacking up once every few years.

Racist

[OwlHoot]

So you thought you would reenact it on a national scale with Brexit.

The EU is the fifties model, a large monolithic quasi-Stalinist organization.

Don't forget the UK is traditionally an early adopter, and we Brexiters are a century ahead of the creaking EU.

[Pip in a Poke]

Now you mention it, that is probably right.

I guess my mental picture of houseboats is based on Ealing comedies, with Peter Sellers or Terry-Thomas or someone putting their foot through a rotten wooden floor and practically sinking the thing!

Ding Dong!

[MrButton]

We're looking to buy one in the next 2 years. 50-57ft.

Do a lot of googling and reading. And meet some people who have narrowboats. They will be able to give lots advice and they love to talk about their boats.

We are budgeting around £6k a year running costs all in - inc moorings at a marina within 1hr ish of London.

Make sure you get a proper marine survey. If it's solid and you maintain it, it'll last donkeys years and will hold its money and appreciate if well looked after and upgraded. I looked around a 100 year old one a couple of weeks ago but it was too specialised for me being an old boat and too big as well as too expensive.

I'm not looking to liveaboard yet. More for holidays and between contracts and if at all possible "work from boat".

We find it great fun and so relaxing.

[Lost It]

My mates dad and stepmum lived in one for two years. It was damp in winter, damp and smelly in summer, it needed the vents open all the time, she used to get bitten to death by midges, the Solar panels weren't able to keep the battery topped up, so they had to run a generator every couple of days, the winters were worse as there's only about 5 hours of daylight mid winter, and it's cold and clammy to boot. They had a log fire and a Calor gas heater and one night he fell asleep with the Calor heater on and didn't wake up... Steel hulled...

Sad really. But I think they arer "Holiday homes". Not really suitable for a base station.

[Pip in a Poke]

My mates dad and stepmum lived in one for two years. It was damp in winter, damp and smelly in summer, it needed the vents open all the time, she used to get bitten to death by midges, the Solar panels weren't able to keep the battery topped up, so they had to run a generator every couple of days, the winters were worse as there's only about 5 hours of daylight mid winter, and it's cold and clammy to boot. They had a log fire and a Calor gas heater and one night he fell asleep with the Calor heater on and didn't wake up... Steel hulled...

Sad really. But I think they arer "Holiday homes". Not really suitable for a base station.

That's what happened to our local gamekeeper. He lived in an old Sprite Major which was parked up in the woods. Had gas heating & one night he went to sleep & there was a backdraft that blew out the flames. He didn't wake up.