Variable

Some people enjoy working locks on their own. I would enjoy them more if my tired old body didn't groan and protest so much. Make no mistake; moving a boat solo can be hard work, but it's not impossible. It's more technique than brute force. Even so, my limit is about 10 locks in a day before it stops being fun. I watched other single boaters and asked lots of questions when I started out, learning techniques like hopping off the boat with the centre line and windlass as the boat coasts into an empty lock, and letting it pull me up the slope to the top. Engaging with onlookers can save a lot of effort as they'll at least close the lock gate for you when you exit. Wait for a hireboat and let them do all the work whilst providing a comedy of errors. But avoid locking on your own if you can. Especially if the weather's wet and windy or it's getting dark. The potential for mistakes is endless, and one slip could prove fatal. You really need to have eyes in the back of your head. In any case, I find that locks become more and more fun as the number of people doing them increases. Me plus miserable cold girlfriend: Not much fun. Me plus misery plus a boatload of hyper inner city kids: Hysterical. Having said all that, there is another option. Don't do locks. I am on a 12-mile pound running around the east and north of Milton Keynes between Cosgrove and Fenny Stratford locks on the GU. I have everything within a few hours drive including a 24-hour Tesco. And there are at least five postcodes along the way for total continuous cruiser compliance goodness.

So by now you're realising there's no simple answer to your question. The answer is to experiment because every boat and every circumstance is different. Boat reversing is dabbling with ultra-chaos, where a tiny change in input has a wildly unpredictable outcome. Some things are constants though: any wind will turn your attempts to manoever into a shambles. The degree of failure of any manoever is directly proportionate to the audience. Despite all factors appearing to be constant, the boat will never do the same thing twice. Seriously though, some things seem to happen most of the time. I find that if I trickle the engine it will go left a bit, and if I gun it it pulls right. Overall I prefer to take it slowly unless it's windy. Over long distances I gun the engine to get the boat moving then go into neutral and coast; re-align the boat, and repeat. Reversing seems slightly more controlled if my bow water tank is full. I wish I had a bow thruster.

Ridiculous? Not at all. I did exactly what you are contemplating two years ago and never looked back. Your big decision is whether you live on a permanent mooring on the towpath with no services, in a marina with electricity and water on tap, or stay on the move as a 'continuous cruiser' where you are expected to move on at least every two weeks (although in practise you can often get away with much longer in low-demand areas). Or a combination of two - cruising during the nice months and hunkering down on a temporary winter mooring. That decision will dictate what facilities your boat needs most. If you are marina living then all your boat needs is a 240v mains system like a house. If you are cruising or mooring on the bank you need to be much more self-sufficient and have an adequate power generation system and big water and waste tanks. A washing machine is pretty much essential. The expensive to install, but sustainable way of making almost free power is to have solar panels and wind generators charging a large bank of batteries, which then provide mains electricity through an inverter. the cheaper solution is to use a generator only when it's needed. There are many boaters who work and continuous cruise - it's quite feasible to move around London staying on 14-day moorings within reach of various tube stations, for instance. If you don't have any particular place to be then there's thousands of miles to explore. Enjoy.

Have you lifted the weed hatch and checked it's not something as daft as a plassy bag on one of the prop blades?

They work much better if you turn them round to blow cold air onto the stovepipe.