rivershine

Thank you for the comments. Not being a swimmer, I don't think I could afford to be lax about wearing a life jacket. After all, I only need to fall in once out of my depth. I see that slipping on lock sides has come up a couple of times. That seems eminently doable, and is probably my major concern. At the end of the day I can choose not to walk gunnels, inconvenient though it may be. I can't choose not to work locks. Also, I don't think it's terribly likely. But I do think it's just that "one day" thing...seven or nine years later, you are distracted for a second, you don't notice that slippy patch...you stumble...

Hi Dr. Bob. Edinburgh man myself. I wouldn't fancy taking a full body dunk in the FoF at pretty much any time... Good job on that rescue, by the way.

Yes, I heard about that. Hopefully the canals aren't as "ratty" as they once were. However, I'd be a bit more concerned about that with the general bangs and scrapes of boat life...such as digging around in the weed hatch with your hands, presumably an infinitely more common situation than man overboard, and catching your fingers on something sharp or prickly in there that's fouling the prop?

So then, truly a "cuthound"?

What precipitated these falls in locks? Momentary lapse of attention or slippery surfaces or what? They do seem unusually dangerous places.

Oh...I would even consider renting for several months before taking the plunge (no, not THAT plunge)...but prices I have seen for long term rentals were about 3 times the cost of renting a one bedroom flat for the same period...and that's not including deposit. And yeah, I would hire for a short while anyway, sure.

LOL. Yeah, about those lock gates, now that it's come up. Some of those walkways look precariously narrow. Is there always a guide rail? I'm sure I've seen pictures of locks with no rail (but a crossing bridge may have existed outside of the frame, I don't know)

I am moderately reassured. Maybe I will live after all! Yes, I would wear some kind of life protection gear. Probably not one of these though: To those of you who did fall in, or your significant other took the plunge, how deep was the canal where you fell? Also, locks would probably concern me the most.

This is slightly tongue in cheek, but also...not really. I can't swim, so can imagine wearing one of those less bulky life vests with the gas canister most of the time. I know, right "can't swim and contemplating a boating life"? I hear you. Trouble is, it's more than just learning the physical act, it's claustrophobia of immersion. Anyway, to that question...how often DO people fall in? No matter how careful you are? I'm talking about liveaboards. Would you say it was a case of "when" rather than "if'? In other words, even if you are really careful, the day will come when you slip on a wet surface, stumble on the roof, lose your balance while dealing with the boat in a lock, etc? Or are there those among you here who can say, hand on heart, the likes of "I cruised the canals for six years and never fell in once"? Is it like they say for motorcycles? You're not a real boater until you fall in (off)? Canal water is not something I would want to fall into in general, let alone for the drowning aspect.

I mean, I hear you but I still see plenty of reasonable looking boats around that I recall looking at online about 2 weeks ago at least. I haven't been to see them I must admit (and if 40k+ is considered a "reasonable boat")

Yeah, I mean, I wonder what the figures actually are for youtube vlogs per, say, 10,000 subscribers per calendar month. It can't be big. Does it work only on the watching of the adverts at the beginning of vids? (which always annoy me intensely anyway).

Thank you for the replies. Many category ideas so far, which is what I was after. There's no danger of me doing anything that any of you are doing, as I don't have those skills, and couldn't acquire them without an extensive prep stage of at least a couple of years. Part of me is a bit nervous that this lifestyle, or at least the "perception" of it, is becoming increasingly popular (I guess the very fact that someone like me is even here, talking to you all, is a symptom) and therefore the price of canal boats might skyrocket in the next few years if I delay too long.

Darned good post, originalsmoothie. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the reply John. Are you programming, or website development?

Hi originalsmoothie thanks for your reply. For the writers, do you happen to know what categories of writing are involved, as that is a vast area from proofreading to medical transcription to writing articles for magazines to blogging with affiliate links (can't imagine that would ever generate enough, unless you were a blogging superstar), etc. For the ebay sellers, are they selling physical products or virtual products? If physical, how on earth do they handle continuous cruising while dealing with constantly receiving and sending packages? Or are they moored in one area? I do have a degree in computer science too, though it is a fair while since I did any programming.

Hi dmr. Thanks for the reply. Yes, it doesn't have to be lucrative for me, but it would have to be sustainable with a bit of wiggle room. In other words, sustainable for the life of remaining on the cut, not necessarily what society in general views as sustainable. Could you possibly elaborate a little on "software stuff" if you are willing? We could also use PMs if you'd prefer.

Hello folks. Thank you for the replies thus far, of whatever kind, though most especially to those who offered specific suggestions on the work front (which was my real question). I notice that everyone who is replying so far is referring in the third person to "others" who are somehow doing this. I guess I was/am hoping that some of those "others" would actually chime in here. Of course, I know it's only been a few hours. I'm not looking to steal anyone's work. I'm looking to identify what *kinds of work* may be practical here that I have not yet considered. Are there any such CCers actually reading these threads? Yes, I read the thread with the music teacher comments. This is just about the only thing that came up under the search function. Again, interesting, but not really useful in my case, as people around me in boats would start killing themselves if I tried to give music lessons. I did mention the possibility of tutoring (English or another subject) in the flesh in the original post, but again, has anyone ever heard of this on the waterways? People would need to come to the boat or the boat would need to go to those people. I wouldn't want to hang in big cities, which is why the online version interests me much more. I doubt there is much of a market for music (or English) lessons on a canal boat out in the rurals? I am aware that there are issues with internet connection, but to be honest I am less concerned with that ("will cross that bridge when I come to it") than identifying viable possibilities to begin with and preferably talking to people who are doing that. There's no real point in worrying too much about the extra hoops to jump through for connection until I have something that's truly worth connecting for. Unfortunately, I don't personally know anyone who is doing this, especially on a boat, so I am hoping to strike up just such a conversation (this would be the ideal). On the webs, people who state that they are knowledgeable about these things tend to be offering ebooks and courses, and my experience with such conversations so far, or trying to start them up, is that they soon end up in the territory of advising me to read their book or take their course. When I have actually done that, however, the kind of advice given seems to me too general and nondescript. I guess one of my aims here is to determine whether this is *actually happening* for more than about one in a million people. The rumour of people funding their travel lifestyle by some kind of internet business or e-working seems to be a persistent one, yet I am puzzled that when I do ask the question, the response always seems to be "I know a guy who was doing that..." kind of thing, rather than "yeah, hey, *I've* been doing that for years, let's talk!" It's a puzzle. Maybe people are coy about it. I don't know. Again, I'm not seeking to steal anyone's turf.

Hi there. I feel certain this question has probably been asked before, perhaps more than once, but entering terms such as "working from home" or "working from the boat" or even "freelance" and "freelancing" don't give much by way of result. Possibly this is the search engine, I don't know. Anyway, here goes. I am contemplating boat life but to make this realistic would need to make a change to some kind of freelancing or remote work done from the internet. This is not something I have done before in my life, and I would very much like to see if I can make it viable BEFORE I commit to a watery future. I have been a teacher for some years, and this seems to give the possibility of online tutoring. However, this is a rather over-subscribed area, and I don't want to be limited to this. So here comes my question as I really want to phrase it: For those continuous cruisers here or even permanently moored who do NOT have a conventional (go to an office or physical site) job, but are working from the web, what sort of things is it that you are doing? I am looking for something that I might learn or gain some kind of certification in that doesn't involve years of study, and preferably not more than a year, but is also actually DOABLE and realistic, and doesn't pay in survey-level sweetie money. I know only too well that I cannot sustain continuous cruising on smoke and mirrors. There are so many scam subjects in "internet working" that it seems a minefield. I realize this question is not highly specific to boating life, but I am asking it precisely for the purpose of funding boating life, and therefore I will also add the rider of asking if there are some special aspects of the reality of that life that would automatically or semi-automatically rule out certain kinds of "internet work." I am perfectly prepared to put in effort or work to become viable at something new. That isn't the problem. At the moment I can only claim to be an "expert" at teaching English, but I have never done that online and I don't know if that will be sufficient to do the job, or even IF it can do the job alone. The truth is that I've never been particularly good at identifying possibilities unfamiliar to me that may be available "out there," so I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be things I just haven't thought of, yet that people are making work for them. So just one more time to be clear, I am specifically talking about remote work using the internet while continuously cruising. I am not talking about plying a trade with physical product from a boat (sandwiches, mobile electronic repair etc). All power to that, but I'm no use at any of that. I suppose that giving some kind of service (lessons / advice etc) on the boat is another kind of possibility, but again I'm not sure what that would be, and (ideally) I don't want to be limited to high traffic areas of the network. So CCers and other liveaboards who are working via the internet and using that to partly or wholly fund your lifestyle, I am asking *you* specifically...how precisely are you doing this, what are you doing, and what might be recommended in my circumstances? I welcome realism, but please do be constructive (i.e. not "haha, good luck with that mate!" and such). It's a serious question.