How long do you plan to stay afloat?

[AllenTC2]

So let me preface my question (and my first post) with a little about me. I'm from the US, and I'm planning on retiring in the next four years.  I have purchased a 35' motorhome and my intention upon retirement is to sell my home and travel North and Central America. I'm currently 52, so I feel pretty certain barring some unforeseen accident/illness I'll be able to keep that up for quite some time.

Last weekend I discovered the existence of "canal life" thanks to pure chance and Amazon Prime. Quite frankly, I'm blown away. Had I known about narrowboats the direction of my last three or so year's worth of research would have gone in an entirely different direction. LOL It appears (to me) to be a wonderful blend of "getting away from it all", seeing a country rich in history/culture (and yet not so totally alien that'd I'd be lost in it) from a rather unique perspective, and financially doable (albeit with some sacrifice), 

Anyway, my question.....so how long does the typical 'liveaboard' live aboard? Is the canal lifestyle sustainable into your 70s and beyond? What about for a foreign visitor? I gather as a US citizen, I can get a visa that lets me stay in the UK for as long as I'd wish (providing I can show I'm able to financially care for myself). Could I conceivably spend 10 years or so cruising through all the canals?

Weird question, I know. LOL What I've seen so far is just so....captivating. 

Thanks for your input!

[rusty69]

In my case, until they can pry the tiller out of my cold dead hands.

 

I think the question is whether you can remain fit and able. If you can, you can keep going into your 70's or way 80s in my humble opinion,as many do.

Edited October 13, 2019 by rusty69

[ditchcrawler]

I think for me it will be when I can no longer drive to the boat. I must admit I find it harder every year

[rusty69]

Perhaps, pertinent to todays other popular thread, the time to stop is when you hit other peoples boats and think it is their fault

Edited October 13, 2019 by rusty69
In the voice of custard hahahahahah

[The Dreamer]

So I’m just tipped into my 50s and am setting out next year, with my wife, on an MO of cruise all summer, work all winter.  Our reasoning for doing this now, and in the way we are, is because life’s too short, and we don’t want to get into our 60s and retirement, to discover that life has blown us a left one and we are not fit enough.  But getting to your question, we will as long as we can.  However I am always amazed at the age of many, some in their 80s, and even single handers, out on the network and often think “wow”.  Albeit “wow they really shouldn’t be” as often as “wow they are incredible”!

[Mad Harold]

When you can no longer get on and off your boat,then it's time to find another hobby.If your health holds up,then you can keep boating untill a couple of weeks before you snuff it.I know of at least three boaters in their eighties and a few who look as though they are!

A pal who lived on a boat sadly had a stroke which left him with limited movement,and had to call it a day.

So,all being well you can keep boating as long as you wish.

[Kudzucraft]

No answer but your plans sounds much like ours. We started out thinking about a Camper (Caravan in the UK) and doing the Western US a few months a year.Then we discovered the canals and now we are very seriously planning on doing that 9 month a year. Return the US for the holidays, see family and return the UK in the spring. Glad to see someone else with the same ideas.

[Slim]

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I think for me it will be when I can no longer drive to the boat. I must admit I find it harder every year

Driving to the boat (75 miles each way) is easy.  Boating in general gets harder each year. As a consequence distances covered becomes less. Walking a few miles for a loaf of bread and a pint of milk is more of a challenge. I can envisage that there will come a day when I treat the boat as a floating cottage but not yet.

Waiting for this rain to stop before I go back to the boat to finish replacing the flywheel casing, engine mounts, drive plate etc  after finding a broken casting whilst replacing the propshaft, sterntube and rudder bearing. Could have paid someone to do the work but it's a challenge.

 

Frank. Aged 73 (almost)    

[ditchcrawler]

4 minutes ago, Slim said:

Driving to the boat (75 miles each way) is easy.  Boating in general gets harder each year. As a consequence distances covered becomes less. Walking a few miles for a loaf of bread and a pint of milk is more of a challenge. I can envisage that there will come a day when I treat the boat as a floating cottage but not yet.

Waiting for this rain to stop before I go back to the boat to finish replacing the flywheel casing, engine mounts, drive plate etc  after finding a broken casting whilst replacing the propshaft, sterntube and rudder bearing. Could have paid someone to do the work but it's a challenge.

 

Frank. Aged 73 (almost)    

I drive twice as far as that M6 A14

[Arthur Marshall]

I'm 70 in a week or two and don't have any problems really. I don't live on board any more, but do try and get away for a couple of months at a time. The only that may finish me with narrowboats is if the current engine repair fails - I can't afford another major cost after this one. But I should be able to afford a smaller & therefore cheaper cruiser... 

[Tumshie]

42 minutes ago, AllenTC2 said:

I gather as a US citizen, I can get a visa that lets me stay in the UK for as long as I'd wish

I'm not sure why you would assume that, you should get a 6 month visitor visa easily enough but for longer stays you will need to make sure you are applicable, I strongly suggest that you look into the other different types of visa.

 

It might also be worth booking a hire boat for a holiday first before you commit to planning your retirement. It might be everything you hope it to be or you may feel that your motorhome is better suited to your needs. I don't want to sound like a rain cloud but it would be a bit pants if you spent four years planing to retire onto a narrowboat and then discovered it wasn't your cuppa tea (it has happened before). You can hire both narrowboats and motorhomes in this country so you can add that to your current research and if you only discovered narrowboats last weekend then you have so many blogs to read and YouTube videos to watch and questions to ask yet. 

 

That second bit wasn't quite what you asked about but hopefully interesting all the same. 

 

[AllenTC2]

22 minutes ago, Kudzucraft said:

No answer but your plans sounds much like ours. We started out thinking about a Camper (Caravan in the UK) and doing the Western US a few months a year.Then we discovered the canals and now we are very seriously planning on doing that 9 month a year. Return the US for the holidays, see family and return the UK in the spring. Glad to see someone else with the same ideas.

Regrettably, for me it'd have to be one or the other. LOL Barring a lottery win of course. 

My thoughts were North America offers a ton of natural wonders. I enjoy hiking, kayaking, etc. Those are pretty solitary pastimes. England, on the other hand, offers a new (yet somewhat familiar) culture, history, ...dare I say it? Beer. LOL And may be not so solitary. 

[Tumshie]

Have you been to Britain before?

 

[AllenTC2]

1 minute ago, Tumshie said:

I'm not sure why you would assume that, you should get a 6 month visitor visa easily enough but for longer stays you will need to make sure you are applicable, I strongly suggest that you look into the other different types of visa.

 

It might also be worth booking a hire boat for a holiday first before you commit to planning your retirement. It might be everything you hope it to be or you may feel that your motorhome is better suited to your needs. I don't want to sound like a rain cloud but it would be a bit pants if you spent four years planing to retire onto a narrowboat and then discovered it wasn't your cuppa tea (it has happened before). You can hire both narrowboats and motorhomes in this country so you can add that to your current research and if you only discovered narrowboats last weekend then you have so many blogs to read and YouTube videos to watch and questions to ask yet. 

 

That second bit wasn't quite what you asked about but hopefully interesting all the same. 

 

Both of those are solid suggestions....and something I was going to ask about as I learned more, both about narrowboating and this forum. LOL

[matty40s]

We plan to stay afloat forever, and that's a mighty long time..(cheers Prince)...

If we dont, it means the surveyors missed something pretty drastic in our survey, or we havnt bothered maintaining the boat as it should be.

 

[AllenTC2]

1 minute ago, Tumshie said:

Have you been to Britain before?

 

Briefly, a long time ago. I was stationed in Germany from 88-92, and went to London for four days.

Not gonna lie, it was mostly a pub crawl. ?

[Tumshie]

1 minute ago, AllenTC2 said:

Not gonna lie, it was mostly a pub crawl. ?

Oh... Many a visit to London has mounted to little more than pub craw. You wouldn't be the first and certainly not the last. ?

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, AllenTC2 said:

What about for a foreign visitor? I gather as a US citizen, I can get a visa that lets me stay in the UK for as long as I'd wish (providing I can show I'm able to financially care for myself). Could I conceivably spend 10 years or so cruising through all the canals?

Really? Brits can get 90 days in the USA on the Visa waiver programme, maybe 6 months if theres absolutely no conceivable reason you may overstay (relatives there, particularly children or grand children, seem to make this a more difficult and remote possibility rather than more likely).  We can't enter the Green Card Lottery either. It seems you'd rather have Russian mafia than a harmless, self sufficient Brit. Are we really so generous in reverse? I am happy to hear that we are, incidentally. Come and enjoy our canals and spend your pension here by all means! Healthcare may be your biggest issue, but probably also less of an obstacle than t'other way around. As for age, we all wear that differently. Ten years on the canals? Why not?  

[AllenTC2]

 

Edited October 13, 2019 by AllenTC2
Goofed

[Captain Pegg]

13 minutes ago, matty40s said:

We plan to stay afloat forever, and that's a mighty long time..(cheers Prince)...

If we dont, it means the surveyors missed something pretty drastic in our survey, or we havnt bothered maintaining the boat as it should be.

 

Did nobody tell you about Prince? 

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

I think for me it will be when I can no longer drive to the boat. I must admit I find it harder every year

Get the train.

[AllenTC2]

Just now, Sea Dog said:

Really? Brits can get 90 days in the USA on the Visa waiver programme, maybe 6 months if theres absolutely no conceivable reason you may overstay (relatives there, particularly children or grand children, seem to make this a more difficult and remote possibility rather than more likely).  We can't enter the Green Card Lottery either. It seems you'd rather have Russian mafia than a harmless, self sufficient Brit. Are we really so generous in reverse? I am happy to hear that we are, incidentally. Come and enjoy our canals and spend your pension here by all means! Healthcare may be your biggest issue, but probably also less of an obstacle than t'other way around. As for age, we all wear that differently. Ten years on the canals? Why not?  

I could be wrong. I haven't really delved into it, but I'm pretty sure I can apply for a visitor visa and stay up to 6 months? https://www.gov.uk/choose-uk-visit-short-stay-visa

AHA! I could have mixed things up a bit. From https://www.ukvisaapplication.ng/do-us-citizens-need-a-visa-for-uk/....

US citizens are generally referred to as non visa nationals which grants them a visa waiver status,  therefore, they do not require a visa to the UK as long as they do not plan to stay for more than 6 months at a time, and they can show evidence that they plan to go back to America after 6 months has elapsed.

Something I'll have to research more, if things get serious. 

[ditchcrawler]

3 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

Get the train.

Its easier to Drive, 16 hours by bus and train

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, AllenTC2 said:

I could be wrong. I haven't really delved into it, but I'm pretty sure I can apply for a visitor visa and stay up to 6 months? https://www.gov.uk/choose-uk-visit-short-stay-visa

AHA! I could have mixed things up a bit. From https://www.ukvisaapplication.ng/do-us-citizens-need-a-visa-for-uk/....

US citizens are generally referred to as non visa nationals which grants them a visa waiver status,  therefore, they do not require a visa to the UK as long as they do not plan to stay for more than 6 months at a time, and they can show evidence that they plan to go back to America after 6 months has elapsed.

Something I'll have to research more, if things get serious. 

 

Let's imagine you come over here on a six month visa. You buy a boat and live on it, cruising around. You visa run out. Now what? 

 

I guess they will start writing letters to whatever UK address you gave them. They might even send an immigration official or two around to interview you.

 

Will you answer the door? Obviously not. But seriously, if you decide to live under the radar I can't see them ever putting in enough effort to actually track you down and arrest you and send you back.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tumshie]

5 minutes ago, AllenTC2 said:

AHA! I could have mixed things up a bit. From https://www.ukvisaapplication.ng/do-us-citizens-need-a-visa-for-uk/....

Is .ng not Nigeria. Nigeria is a Commonwealth Country so their visa applications will be very different from an American one. 

 

 

[AllenTC2]

4 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

Is .ng not Nigeria. Nigeria is a Commonwealth Country so their visa applications will be very different from an American one. 

 

 

No clue. That article appears to be pretty generic. Looking at it more critically, not capitalizing "US" in a few places does kind of detract from its credibility though. *sigh* Gotta love the internet.

LOL I suppose if I want a definitive answer, I could just call the UK consulate. And even if I do have to come back to the US after 6 months, how long do I have to stay here before returning?