Living on a Narrowboat

[Pip in a Poke]

You would be much better off with a motorhome, especially if you have no experience of boats.

There are places where you can park a motorhome for as little as £8 a night, easy to move on your own, easy to get serviced and much faster to get around. I would allow two weeks to do Bristol to Reading in a narrowboat, two hours in a motorhome...



This is a contradiction in terms. A butty is an unpowered vessel towed by a cruiser.

Get a narrowboat by all means, I am sure they're a lot of fun (I am equally sure that I will own one at some point), but live on it for a few months between contracts just for kicks. Write your novel, paint your masterpiece, create your killer-app or get wasted on cider, but do it just to enjoy.

Oh, I couldn't resist. I didn't think there'd be anyone here who knew what a butty was to be honest.

I've heard mooring fees are quite high, especially near cities and suchlike.

Also, it's a depreciating asset, in that the wood is rotting from the day you buy it (or long before). I know one could say the same of a house, but then a houseboat needs more than a lick of paint every now and then - the whole thing is wood!

And it isn't a good idea to get too pissed in a narrowboat, as you can easily fall off the side, and if you or a guest hit your head on the way down it's probably curtains!

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

[northernladyuk]

Don't come to Oxfordshire:

BBC NEWS | England | Oxfordshire | Murder arrest over boat 'attack'

Bloody Gyptians.

[original PM]

Not sure.

I see people who have narrow boats similar to those we go caravanning

e.g. they are swingers....

Maybe you could call the boat Poke a Pip.

[northernladyuk]

Not sure.

I see people who have narrow boats similar to those we go caravanning

e.g. they are swingers....

Maybe you could call the boat Poke a Pip.

For example they are swingers? What other examples are there of their similarities?

[original PM]

For example they are swingers? What other examples are there of their similarities?

Well they always carry their house with them wherever they go - so similar to snails in that respect....

[Pip in a Poke]

For example they are swingers? What other examples are there of their similarities?

A predilection for Morris Dancing?

[original PM]

A predilection for Morris Dancing?

Yup that to...

Probably a preference for real ale and sh!tting in a bucket to.

Which is not a great combination tbh.

[westtester]

You would be much better off with a motorhome, especially if you have no experience of boats.

I used to work with a contractor who was living in a motor home , not so much for ease of accommodation but to avoid his ex-wife.

[d000hg]

I've heard mooring fees are quite high, especially near cities and suchlike.

Also, it's a depreciating asset, in that the wood is rotting from the day you buy it (or long before). I know one could say the same of a house, but then a houseboat needs more than a lick of paint every now and then - the whole thing is wood!

And it isn't a good idea to get too pissed in a narrowboat, as you can easily fall off the side, and if you or a guest hit your head on the way down it's probably curtains!

I don't know narrow-boats, but generally boats hold their value very well. They can last for decades if maintained well and if you buy 2nd hand you can sell for the what you paid for it - of course you have ongoing maintenance costs.

[SueEllen]

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.