Another boating article in the press - "Its not all good"

[Alan de Enfield]

But It cannot be true beacuse it is in the Express ;

 

Liveaboard secrets: family shares reality of living on a narrowboat | Express.co.uk

Houseboats: Family shares secrets of liveaboard life - ‘it’s not cushy’

HOUSEBOATS have become a popular lifestyle choice in recent months as property prices continue to rise across the country. In order to escape the UK's expensive rents, more people than ever are looking for cheaper forms of housing.

Tony and Diana made the life-changing decision of moving to London’s waters two months ago, as the spending between their house and their shop in Camden Town was becoming unbearable. The couple - and their two dogs - couldn’t afford rent in the city, so they decided to trade it all in for a life afloat in a single space two-meter wide narrowboat.

 

“The house prices are untouchable at the moment, you have to be very rich to live in London,” Tony explained.

 

 

According to recent research, there has been a rise of 25 percent in people turning a boat into their permanent home.

The Canal & River Trust reported more people than ever are living in England's canals with 35,000 Britons currently choosing liveaboard.

Boat builders and sellers have also reported a record in demand and more boat licenses have been issued this year than ever before.

 

Tony and Diana are “continuous cruisers”, which means that in order to avoid paying for a mooring, the couple move to a different spot every 14 days.

But how is it really like to live on a tiny narrowboat?

“It’s a little more cramped than living in a house, of course. We sort of live on top of each other. We sleep in the same room as the kitchen, so you can imagine how it's like."

The couple shared some “secrets” of their life afloat.

 

“It’s not cushy at all. There’s a lot of planning around it. People might not know that when you live on a boat you have to empty your toilet and get your own water," explained Tony.

“The main disadvantage is emptying your toilets, as you actually see your poop and all that!"

“It’s not romantic at all!” said Diana.

Tony continued: “You also have to go to a water point and fill up your water tank.

“And in the winter it is a bit of a struggle sometimes to keep warm."

 

 

However, the main handicap for Diana is storage and the fact that there's not enough space on the boat for all her clothing.

“Storage is the main disadvantage for me. We need to have a storage shed where we can keep some stuff that we don't use all the time but that we will want to use in the future.

“I have to rotate my clothing now. I have to go and get what I want to wear, take what I got on the boat and pack it away."

Tony explained: “The biggest disadvantage for me is that I don’t have a garage where I can play with cars anymore. I was very into cars and I’ve given all that up."

 

But all of those are minors things for the couple, who believe that the most important issue when living on a houseboat is security.

"We are quite secure, although if someone wants to break in they would find a way. So you always have to be aware, never park in an isolated area. We always park where other boats are."

“There are other challenges like every time you move somewhere new you have to learn where the nearest supermarket is and all that, but after all, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages," explained Diana.

“For us is a great lifestyle because we love the natural world, so we are close to that being on a boat. While we work in London, this is the closest you can get to the countryside."

“For us, it’s a good way of life, but it’s definitely not for everybody," concluded Tony.

[BilgePump]

'Family shares secrets of liveaboard life

....made the life-changing decision of moving to London’s waters two months ago'

 

So, they have moved the boat five(ish) times, emptied the loo a score and spent less than a hundred nights on the water, covering spring/summer when it was nowhere near sub-zero. That's just an extended holiday experience so-far. Plus, land based business premises and storage make it more of a hybrid life.

 

Not criticising the couple, just the article. if the writer didn't think that it would be wise to also include the anecdotes and knowledge of a few more people who have been liveaboards for longer. 

 

It seems that the 'secrets' revealed here are simply move every two weeks, empty your loo, refill water, don't moor in a lousy area, find a supermarket and sort out some extra storage. Good to know winter electricity generation is no issue, failed network mechanisms, failed boat mechanics and plumbing etc etc etc, need not be a worry.

[Athy]

Well they're obviously O.K. for gas and electricity: the article says they have a "two-meter" boat.

[BilgePump]

1 minute ago, Athy said:

Well they're obviously O.K. for gas and electricity: the article says they have a "two-meter" boat.

?? Virtual greenie there. Totally missed that. Typo, intentional or autocorrected I wonder. I do dislike American spelling on UK websites, especially when they are for a national newspaper.

[1st ade]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

"We are quite secure, although if someone wants to break in they would find a way. So you always have to be aware, never park in an isolated area. We always park where other boats are."

 

As someone said to me many years ago "Cars are 'parked', boats are 'moored' and Navy ships are 'secured'"

[BilgePump]

6 minutes ago, 1st ade said:

 

As someone said to me many years ago "Cars are 'parked', boats are 'moored' and Navy ships are 'secured'"

Those new fangled parking ropes will be replacing our old fashioned mooring lines.

[Murflynn]

yeah but -

.... why don't we have a gas pipe running along the busy parts of London's canals, with branch connections (and moveable steps over the pipe) every 25m where gas can be tapped off for the poor liveaboards?   Similar thing for 240V?  The gas pipe could double as a handrail to save poor drunks returning to their boats from falling in. 

.... and huge widebeam storage boats that can be called up to deliver your stored clothing on demand?  same thing for fuel boats and sewage collection boats?

 

 

CRT really hasn't thought this out.  If they withdrew the 14 day rule and allowed boats to remain in place they could charge a small fortune for moorings and utilities.  It would also free up most of the system from having to cater for boaters who are foolish enough to want to "cruise" along the system.  Good news all round IMHO. 

 

 

[Tim Lewis]

43 minutes ago, Athy said:

Well they're obviously O.K. for gas and electricity: the article says they have a "two-meter" boat.

 

[Alan de Enfield]

14 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

 

 

 

 

Must be a new mooring / recharging  site for electric boats.

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

According to recent research, there has been a rise of 25 percent in people turning a boat into their permanent home.

The Canal & River Trust reported more people than ever are living in England's canals with 35,000 Britons currently choosing liveaboard.

 

No one picked up on this then ?

 

If that is true, then there are actually 140,000 boats , so if C&RT are claiming only ~30,000 licences are issued they actually have a huge licence evasion figure - not the 2 or 3% they publish.

Edited June 20, 2021 by Alan de Enfield

[BilgePump]

37 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

 

Must be a new mooring / recharging  site for electric boats.

 

 

 

 

 

No one picked up on this then ?

 

If that is true, then there are actually 140,000 boats , so if C&RT are claiming only ~30,000 licences are issued they actually have a huge licence evasion figure - not the 2 or 3% they publish.

Did CaRT recently announce that in March just over 35000 people had boat licences? To quote a different article

 

'In March, there were 35,130 people with boat licences for rivers and canals – compared with 34,435 last year and 32,490 in 2012. Trust surveys put the proportion of “liveaboard” at around 25% (a rise from 15% in 2011) nationally, and it believes the majority of boats in London are permanent homes. The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) said there are about 80,000 powered boats across the waterways of England, Scotland and Wales.'

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/30/more-boats-on-canals-and-rivers-than-in-18th-century-as-thousands-opt-for-life-afloat

 

That is still as clear as mud. Is that 35k people with one or more long term licences on the system? Some people may hold more than one licence, boats may contain more than one person. Powered boats can include open dayboats and trailboats, you can get a three month or six month licence if the boat spends time out of the water etc etc.

Edited June 20, 2021 by BilgePump

[Bee]

Its not that hard if you're a fit retired couple, that's a lifestyle choice but if you're a young couple. maybe with kids who are living on a boat and trying to juggle nurseries, play groups, work and other income its not easy. I remember years ago having to hitch all the way from, I think, the Thames at Oxford to sign on in Leamington Spa.

[Mike Adams]

I noted a similar article in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday although it said 33,000 boats on CaRT waterways of which 24% are permanent homes. The most depressing point however was that boat builders were booming so expect many more of these hideous wide beam caravans in the future blotting the canal landscape and hindering those of us that actually want to go boating. All of the articles I have read never mention the need for an expensive and mostly unobtainable residential mooring.

[Cheese]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Quote

According to recent research, there has been a rise of 25 percent in people turning a boat into their permanent home.

The Canal & River Trust reported more people than ever are living in England's canals with 35,000 Britons currently choosing liveaboard.

No one picked up on this then ?

 

If that is true, then there are actually 140,000 boats , so if C&RT are claiming only ~30,000 licences are issued they actually have a huge licence evasion figure - not the 2 or 3% they publish.

How do you work that out?  To me it says that at some (indeterminate) time here were 28,000 people living on boats, and that it has increased to 35,000.  30,000 boats means for 35,000 people means either that most are occupied by only 1 person, or more likely that a significant proportion of boats are not liveaboards

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, Cheese said:

How do you work that out?  To me it says that at some (indeterminate) time here were 28,000 people living on boats, and that it has increased to 35,000.  30,000 boats means for 35,000 people means either that most are occupied by only 1 person, or more likely that a significant proportion of boats are not liveaboards

 

Exactly - there are a significant number of boats (75%) are NOT liveabards

 

However, C&RT say that are a total of 35,000 licenced boats of which ~25% are liveaboards, ie ~8750. 

 

The article says that there are (co-incidentally) 35,000 liveaboards so with 35,000 people and 8750 boats there must, in reality be an average of 4 per boat - which I doubt.

 

I think it is the reporter mixing up his / her / its numbers

[matty40s]

30 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

I think it is the reporter mixing up his / her / its numbers

Well I never!!

[Ronaldo47]

Coincidentally, there was a two-page spread about living on a canal.boat in the ""Money" section of yesterday's "Daily Telegraph" (19thJune 2021) in the Property pages. The boat , "Brian", said to be " one of only a handful of fully-electric, solar-powered boats on the waterways", is described as being a narrowboat, although from the exterior and interior photos, it is clearly a broadbeam. I guess it would need to be to be able to deploy enough solar panels for self-sufficiency. Based onthe K&A, it has apparently spent the last few years CC- ing between Bristol and Bath.

 

The article says:

 

"Of the 33,000 boats on the 2,000 miles of inland waterways in England and Wales, the Canal and Riverboat Trust has estmated that about 24pc  are permanent homes. This figure rises to almost two-thirds in London."

 

So another set of figures to play with. Possibly more accurate than those mentioned above that have probably been rounded up, but who knows? 

 

It is mentioned that boat builders are struggling to keep up with demand.

 

[blackrose]

It's all true. I'd never actually seen my own poop before I lived on a boat and you have to watch where you park.

 

Why do they always interview these newbies who have no clue?

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, blackrose said:

It's all true. I'd never actually seen my own poop before I lived on a boat and you have to watch where you park.

 

Why do they always interview these newbies who have no clue?

 

 

Because all the 'old timers' are sick of talking about how cold it is in the Winter,  how much cheaper it is than living in London etc. etc. etc.

[MPR]

5 hours ago, 1st ade said:

 

As someone said to me many years ago "Cars are 'parked', boats are 'moored' and Navy ships are 'secured'"

Or 'tied up' even

[alias]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo47 said:

The boat , "Brian", said to be " one of only a handful of fully-electric, solar-powered boats on the waterways", is described as being a narrowboat, although from the exterior and interior photos, it is clearly a broadbeam. I guess it would need to be to be able to deploy enough solar panels for self-sufficiency.

 

I met someone with a narrow boat covered in those walk on solar panels and running silently on its electric motor. He described his boat as "fully electric" which seemed surprising, until he mentioned that he also had a built-in diesel generator. I wondered afterwards if he had meant gas free, when he said fully electric.

Edited June 20, 2021 by alias

[David Mack]

3 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

Why do they always interview these newbies who have no clue?

 

My niece is a newbie boater. Being a millennial she posted all about it on Instagram and as a result was contacted by a reporter from the New York Times who is writing an article about newbies on narrow boats. The reporter has just spent the day boating with them. I await the article with interest!

[David Mack]

6 hours ago, BilgePump said:

That is still as clear as mud. Is that 35k people with one or more long term licences on the system? Some people may hold more than one licence, boats may contain more than one person. Powered boats can include open dayboats and trailboats, you can get a three month or six month licence if the boat spends time out of the water etc etc.

I suspect CRT's 35,000 figure is the number of licences issued over the year, for all types of craft, regardless of the licence duration. Separately CRT do sample surveys which suggest that about 25% of boats are used as liveaboards. But since licence applicants aren't asked about liveaboard status, this figure must be less robust. Similarly any information on the number of residential boaters (as opposed to boats) must be only a broad estimate since they don't have much information about the number of people on board.

[BilgePump]

CarRT currently showing 3688  of their possible moorings on the site are currently occupied, leisure and liveaboard. 103 available now / 14 coming up. 

Edited June 20, 2021 by BilgePump

[system 4-50]

I must be doing it wrong. Whenever I specify a boat length in Waterside, it completely ignores it and I get a listing of vacancies for 23ft and other little ones which would be a tight fit for my 60ft.

[Murflynn]

3 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

I must be doing it wrong. Whenever I specify a boat length in Waterside, it completely ignores it and I get a listing of vacancies for 23ft and other little ones which would be a tight fit for my 60ft.

 

you're obviously not trying hard enough

 

 

 

........................  oh, and stop bragging about the length of your wotsit.  23ft would do me and the missus just fine.   

 

 

...................................................  coat