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Decisions Decisions...

andyg

By andyg
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andyg

andyg

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So here we are, two years after covid reached our shores. I've very recently retired my wife an NHS nurse is burnt out. We have had the most brilliant two days exploring boat ownership. I'm now seriously considering a live aboard, we own a lovely bungalow in a sort after part of Essex ( great local pub ) we'd walk away with a tidy profit. We both have good pensions. This may sound daft but I just can't do living in the south east anymore. I recently had a health issue and just want a quite life. It's bizzare but I could really see us just travelling around the UK canals..Two months ago I'd never thought I'd of said that.. so much to see so much history to explore. Thoughts !!!!

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Lulu

Lulu

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I agree, try before you buy. Also, is it possible to hire during the winter months so you get a taste of living on board in cold, damp weather and mud!?   We are boaters all year round on the Broads and although we absolutely love it, last weekend for instance, we stuck it out in those storms but were absolutely shattered after two days of not a lot of sleep.   Ive been tempted to go down this route, but feel in reality I’d want the best of both worlds by having a little house to go back to now and then.   There’s a vlogger I watch who has a motorhome and him and his wife probably spend around 7 or so months travelling the country, coming back every few weeks throughout the year. That for me would be the ideal. 

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Lulu

Lulu

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You could be based out of a marina and have permanent shore power, washing, shower facilities.

if you were continuous cruisers, would you want to keep a car? Then you would have to keep moving the car. 
 

Floating Our Boat is another good YouTube channel. They started off having a cottage they rented out and also had a car which they ended up selling both and do some lovely videos of life on board as continuous cruisers. 

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Mouldy

Mouldy

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I have to confess, we did consider it.  I spent hours poring over adverts on Apolloduck, looking in particular at wide beam canal boats.  Obviously, their cruising range is limited, but personally, I’d feel extremely hemmed in in a narrowboat.  Then I started to realise the downsides - marina costs for a base and an address, having to slim down our possessions to fit onto a boat, maintenance costs, depreciation (a boat will never hold value like a house or bungalow, dealing with harsh weather, closure of parts of the network for maintenance or when canal banks collapse etc etc. and although, at first, the idea seemed a good one, there were too many downsides.

We’d grown tired of life in Northampton, our house less than a mile from the M1, which could be heard in the distance 24/7.  Norfolk called loudly and this is where I intend to end my days.  We can get to family and friends in less than two hours, our bungalow is coming along nicely, we’re close to our boat and we are very happy here.  The wife is still working, although mainly from home now, but wants to retire in two or three years, when we want to spend more time afloat.

Continuous cruising may be a romantic idea, but it wasn’t for us and I think, needs very careful consideration.

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RS2021

RS2021

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Check out CRT's Continuous Cruising rules. You are expected to be genuinely cruising - although a significant minority do abuse this. I think the maximum stay in any place is 14 days. Check also CRT's stoppage programme. In winter they close many sections of canal for maintenance, although always try to keep some routes open. This will vary every year, but will restrict where you can go in winter. Lulu's suggestion of a marina mooring is worth looking at, but official residential moorings are like hens teeth, although many may turn a blind eye. You would also avoid the Continuous Cruising rules if you have a permanent mooring.

Finally picture yourself on a cold January morning. You are moored in a very beautiful, but remote location. Your toilet is overflowing and your water tank is nearly empty. There is 6in of ice on the cut and looking at the forecast you have no chance of moving to any facilities for at least a week. If this puts you off, or you are inclined to casually ignore it, then its not for you. On the other hand if you say 'so what', then yes seriously consider it. There are many people out there who have done what you are considering and not looked back.

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YnysMon

YnysMon

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It’s something that appeals to me too. What puts me off is the thought of trying to cope as we get older or hit a patch of I’ll health. One of the couples that continuously cruise and do YouTube vlogs (Well Deck Diaries) had a difficult time of it late 2020/early 2021 when the wife was diagnosed with breast cancer just before the second lockdown. They just about managed to get a place in a Marina before the lockdown was imposed and had to hire a car so that she could get to hospital for chemo sessions. 
They also seem to have given up cruising and vlogging recently to help out family. 

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CeePee1952

CeePee1952

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1 hour ago, BrundallNavy said:

Watch “Foxes Afloat” on YouTube. They continually cruise the canals and have some great videos on life onboard. 

Yes, I agree.  They have also done a video where they discuss the pros and cons of living on a narrow boat.  It's very informative and not biased.

Chris

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marshman

marshman

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RS2021 has made some valued comment - its easy to think of the positives but no one headlines the negatives!! For example, pumpouts would be a complete pain which is why those super composting bogs are so common amongst the realms of continuous cruisers!!!

I have been an avid follower of Silver Foxes and i recall one of their gripes about the winter is the mud!! Towpaths are very popular with walkers, cyclists and everyone else, and a nice grassy bank quickly turns into a quagmire! Look at their blog and they have done one recently (well within the last 3 months!) of the pluses and minuses - look it up because at the moment you are just dreaming!!!!

You might find it appealing but would it appeal to your beloved to be stuck in a metal tube with you day after day whilst the wind is howling and its lashing down with rain and the outside temperature is hovering around zero? A life to fantasise about - but for someone else to actually do!!!!!

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Ray

Ray

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Lots of good points made here and it does seem like a difficult decision. On the other hand it's not always winter! I say that with tongue firmly in cheek because clearly it is one of the most serious issues to consider. 

I love the idea and if I were considering it I think Lulu's idea of keeping a small land based home as well as the boat would be the way to go.

At the moment we live in a house with a boat for a lovely and welcome "escape" so maybe living on a boat with a home, of some description, to escape to if/when the need arose would work very well.

No need to burn bridges... unless you can't get under them of course, but that's another issue 😁

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floydraser

floydraser

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Having only ever lived in two houses during my 65 years on your planet, I am probably the least qualified to comment here. But when has that ever shortened a thread? :default_hiding:

We had a similar decision to consider a few years ago and due to our circumstances and ambitions for retirement, decided to stay where we are and travel more. Easy for us as the road infrastructure around here is usually excellent. We don't need to downsize as we never sized up, not that we didn't want to but that's another story. Largely by happy accident, I think I did the right thing for me by having a boat in a marina, moored to a pontoon where I don't have to worry too much about floods. If ever I feel like a change I could move to another marina.

We are about to order a campervan too.

One thought about moving though: New dwellings going up around Norwich should (?) have all the latest standards of insulation, fibre broadband etc already there and you would hope, be cheap to run?

 

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Ray

Ray

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, floydraser said:

Having only ever lived in two houses during my 65 years on your planet

You realise that you have just triggered a whole new conspiracy theory 😂

You read it here first... aliens walk (and cruise) among us 😁

👽

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JawsOrca

JawsOrca

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12 hours ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

.Alan lived on boats for about 10 years.In the end he came ashore  because  of the cold.

That's not fully there. We was aboard for about 13 years. We had a wide beam barge (thing) in salt water which was causing a maintenance nightmare (But part of that was to do with the location and the marina) so we sold that and brought the Broom which although looks good on paper it wasn't intended as a livaboard so it was colder in the winter.

We had a hens tooth of an official legal resi mooring.

It had it's good points; It was cheaper, Summers were amazing, people were lovely, it was secure. 

It had it's bad points; Maintenance costs, Our residential marina was very restrictive with certain things and took the edge of the enjoyment and slowly it got expensive, in some way were a bit stuck. Heating was expensive in the winter (£100 a week easily).

We only moved ashore; 1 due to one of our jobs relocating during covid. 2. the wanting to move up to norfolk which is where we clearly spent most of our time. 3. One of us not quite liking the boat. 

But I still miss the boatlife bigtime and in an ideal world we probably would have looked to living aboard a different boat up here if such option existed.  (I can't knock house living though, it's really nice to own land here in north suffolk now it's taken a lot of stresses away and has provided security, I think it's also lucky that I've found a good job locally too :) but yeah I still miss parts of it)

Would I recommend it?  It depends, it's not an easy life, it's not a cheap life, security is an issue, both in terms of property and ability to find a mooring.  Laws and rules are restrictive, Marina owners can be tough. It's really not an option to use as a base, certainly not in this country and the only real option is continuous cruising.  Certainly focus on heating, a log burner is a must.  

I was very reluctant to move onto a boat at first but I saw it as an adventure and I only look back with positive thoughts.. go for it :) 

 

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andyg

andyg

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Thanks for all the pointers etc, it's obviously not a decision we would take whiout a great deal more research being done etc. It's only to easy to get carried away with the romantics of it all. But I now have the time and freedom to do that research. It certainly has sparked a fire in us. Ww have seen a nice boat we both like, it needs some investment to get it to the standard we'd both want. So it's all positive and heading in the right direction. Thanks again for the pm and support. Not a bad bunch are you  😉 

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