The liveaboard "dream"

[dor]

Over the last few months we have seen several enquiries on this site from people who fancy living on a narrowboat. Other sites also have had similar requests.

 

Some of these people are looking for an idyllic lifestyle, including retirers planning to cruise the system. Many others appear to be looking at it as a cheap alternative to buying a house.

 

However many of these people have no experinence of boating, either for a week's holiday or more extended. I understand there are a lot of boats which are put onto the market after about a year (or less) by these hopeful liveaboards as they find the dream is not all it was cracked up to be. This is not limited to boats; many people also dream of retiring to a vill a in Spain etc, and the rate of returners there is also quite high.

 

I know many people who contribute to this site are full-time liveaboards and wouldn't swap it for anything else. I know personally that I would be very happy with extended crusing for several months, but think I would still like ot keep a toehold on a house.

 

But what do others think? It must be very disappointing for people to sell up their house and move on to a boat, only to discover that it was all a dreadful, expensive mistake.

 

But how do you know until you try it? Do the magazines, TV programs etc paint a too-idyllic picture of the boating dream, without mentioning the pitfalls?

[gaggle]

alright dor,i dont know exactly what it was that made me do it ,but i know mags tv shows ect didnt.i have never lived more than a mile from the cut,from 8yrs to marriage i lived 50 yrds from the cut.and we played ,swam,built rafts and walked along the cut.dead dogs and all kinds of stuff would be floating around but no one could stop us swimming in the cut or running along after the barges,not many narrowboats came along that were purely for pleasure.the cut came alive in the seventies when the natural gas pipeline was being laid down below the towpath,barges with cranes on could be used as playthings,the cocky watchmen would watch us and as long as we didnt damage the equipment it was allowed.this magic of the cut never stopped even when we could see dead bodies of children ,some our friends, were being recovered arms entangled in ropes that had been strung from electricity pylons and used as swings.i must have seen seven bodies took from the cut and still i myself and all the mates would be back on the towpath as soon as the bodies were gone.if you have lived by the cut it is part of your life and i wonder if that is why i am doing it,looking to find past glories.i am under no illusion about what lies ahead,i see a struggle to cope with it in the winter days but i know some spring summer days will push the memories of hardships entailed out the way.if everything does go wrong it is not that much of a journey back to reality and what days months years you did have on the cut will always be in your head to enjoy and you can always regale the grandkids with tales from the cut.better shut up or else this forum will have to put up with past tales.gaggle

[Amicus]

As you say, how do you know if you don’t give it a shot. Some people are afraid to make a mistake; others are more casual about quite important things (my main problem).

Of those that give it up after a year, I think you’ll find a number of reasons, lack of research, miss the children /friends etc. In all the reading I’ve done on this subject, one factor sticks out, often, of a couple one is mad keen and the other acquiesces, after a while there is friction, this seems to me to be the main reason for couples going back on shore. I’m single and having led a somewhat nomadic life for the past twenty years I’m perfectly happy to burn bridges etc and give it a shot. If it don’t work, hey-ho, I’ll do something else, not a big deal for me. If I were in a relationship I wouldn’t entertain the idea, much too fraught.

To the majority of people, I think, a home is the most important thing in their life, “home and hearth” sort of thing. They may not know it but it is so often the case, these are the people that, no matter how fabulous a holiday are happy to “get back home”. Nothing wrong with that but these people I don’t think will make happy live-aboards. When I go on holiday I get depressed and miserable coming back home. When I was working all over the place and would head off home weekends I was always thinking to me-self “why am I doing this trip” and would often turn around and bugger off to Snowdonia or some such place. I’m probably a bit of an extreme case but I do believe one has to have a degree of this attitude to be able to live outside of bricks and mortar. If you are the happy home maker, forget about going out on a limb.

[dor]

I think you could well be right Amicus with the comment that the dream breaks down if one of the couple is not as keen but just goes along with their partner.

 

I followed a website of a couple, one of whom was dutch, who moved onto a boat. Although they were both keen to start, one clearly got fed up with it after a while and they moved back to the land.

 

I do think it is sad though that so many couples don't really think it through and finish up probably losing a lot of money, and possibly their relationship. I'm just a little concerned that so many people seem to be looking at moving onto a boat without any experience of the cut. Gaggle, you were destined to live on a boat! I'm sure you have absolutely no regrets.

[Khayamanzi]

I followed a website of a couple, one of whom was dutch, who moved onto a boat. Although they were both keen to start, one clearly got fed up with it after a while and they moved back to the land.

23060[/snapback]

 

 

Just to let you know Dor, that they still have the boat and although not living on it, still use the boat for extended cruising and holidays. I know this because if it's who I think you mean, they are moored just down from me on my pontoon!

[nbtafelberg]

Our whole family is so happy living on a boat.

 

I have a wife, 2 kids a cat and even a "lodger" who does a lot of crewing.

 

We all love the lifestyle completely.

 

But a lot of it depends on expectations.

 

For instance if you live in a multi-million pound house and move to a boat life will be very different from someone like us who struggled with a mortgage and lived in a small 2 bed terrace.

 

When we moved on the boat a lot went wrong but we are committed (should be committed perhaps) to the lifestyle and that helped us overcome whatever problems came our way.

 

I think if you are looking for a cheap house you should go get a cheap house.

 

Being a liveaboard boater is about a learning experience. From the day you move on you'll be learning and its a very steep learning curve. However one that can be very interesting and exciting.

 

Wherever you live you will have challenges and problems. Living on a boat is no different.

 

Except when you get to take your boat to the shops. When you cruise whenever you feel the urge, you watch sunsets go down over the water and sunrises while your kids have breakfast.

 

Except when you meat up with other boaters and enjoy their company just for a few moments sometimes in a lock.

 

Except when you watch the new born birds in the spring and listen to their calls and feel the gentle rocking of the boat under your feet.

 

Except when you run out of water and are grateful even for simple things like water.

 

4 miles an hour is a good pace of life for anyone.

 

Thats what I think anyway.

Edited June 14, 2005 by clevett

[ChrisPy]

it's so subjective.

 

 

 

 

if you feel the need to ask then for you the answer is probably self evident .........

[Gary Stacey]

For me the reason to live on a boat has to be first and foremost that you love boats and boating. To embark upon living aboard with the mindset that it is a cheap way of living I believe is doomed to failure. If you take the cost of the boat/house out of the equation it is no cheaper, the monthy bills are still there they just come in a different form.

We - my family and I - moved onto a boat because we love boating, because

we wanted to simplify our lives and live with less. I belive it provides the ideal surroundings and atmosphere in which to raise children. The joy of boating far outweighs for me the things that others would perhaps percieve as inconveniences, those things that are part and parcel of the boating experience.

 

Gary

Edited June 15, 2005 by Gary Stacey

[nbtafelberg]

Amen to that Gary.

[DHutch]

For me the reason to live on a boat has to be first and foremost that you love boats and boating.

Thats got to be it really, you do it for the fun of doing it, for the fun of living on a boat.

- Not to save money.

 

 

Daniel

[Gary Peacock]

I have to admit that failures to adapt to the life aboard are quite common, more so among those who have been sold the dream of continuous cruising who quite often with little or no experience soon find reality can be somewhat different.

 

It is an alternative life style some will love instantly, some will grow to love and some will actually hate.

I deal with lots of people planning the dream and I hate to say it but you begin to develop a gut instinct to spot those who will find their dreams and those who wont.

 

And it's not always the stereo types who find it!

Edited June 14, 2005 by Gary Peacock

[NB Willawaw]

As continuous cruisers, we feel the answer is "it depends on what its cracked up to be".

The main problem is that people buy narrowboats to escape the rat race and live some romantic dream of what they think it might be like to be "free".

When it comes to the reality, they stick it for a season and then sell the boat, hence the reason why there are so many newish secondhand boats on the market.

 

Living on a narrowboat in the summer is a piece of cake.

Living through the winter is a different story and is not everybodys cup of tea.

 

We're not saying its impossible or even that hard, just different.

 

I would advise anybody considering living on a narrowboat to hire a boat in the bleakest months for a minimum of a full week. If anybody wants to know more about the highs and lows, we'd be happy to share our thoughts.

 

Don't get me wrong. We love the boat, but not everybody can cope with the conditions on an extended and all year round basis.

[mykaskin]

I've now been living on my boat for getting on for two years (still a short time I know), and I'm enjoying it. I was brought up on boats - though we lived mostly in a house next to a river.

 

If I had the money, I would probably buy a nice house with a canal side mooring, and a boat sitting at the end of the garden waiting for me. Since money is short I find living aboard is a cheap way of owning a boat - but I still own property which is being rented out, which is good insurance for many reasons.

 

It's not as cheap as people think - getting a marine morgage is still not easy, and the running costs are far above that of a house, but if you are going to own a boat anyway...?

 

There are a few boats on the system called Corridor or variations on that theme - if you think you could live in a corridor then perhaps you could live in a boat - especially true for a narrowboat.

 

I also notice a lot more wide beam boats about, and I bet nearly every one has been built to live aboard. I would not mind so much, but so many liveaboards don't go anywhere in their boats, which is a shame. I wonder how many just think of it as a convinient and "cheap" way of getting a home, and how many would be interested in owning a boat otherwise.

[Cris P]

Yeah, it's not for everyone. I love it myself, but I've lived in caravans, tents, and trucks, and I loved that too. If you can't imagine yourself living in a caravan in a muddy field in the middle of a wet cold winter, then a boat probably isn't for you. Having said which, you'd probably learn a huge amount about the world around you, as well as gaining some respect for those who do live out all the time - and that can't be a bad thing.

 

Talking to a friend recently,and from my own experience, I'd say the "dream" is being sold to retirees like ice cream, but life's not so easy when its cold, dark and wet - probably not a particularly good lifestyle for most people with no experience.

[Alan Saunders]

I have heard several stories of people commissioning, a wide-beam live-aboard, with a large mortgage, never having been near a boat before. I also know of people who have invested in a boat because they could not afford to buy a house/flat. I have seen a lot of good advice to potential live-aboards on this site but there is little reference to the lack of space for the tools, books and other junk the average householder stores under the stairs or in the garden shed.

 

I have lost count of the people who intend to cruise the whole system and give up after the first summer season. Few of us have a sufficient income or will give up the conveniences of modern life e.g. a car. Perhaps we dream of a business that can be run from a boat - it is possible, but rare.

 

Most of my boating, in salt water and on the cut, has been done off-season. I am currently living on my boat but, without an investment in property, I will be in a poor position when, eventually, I cannot manage the physical demands of boating. Will I still be lugging gas bottles, diesel and groceries a quarter of a mile along the tow-path when I am 80? Working the boat single-handed through the lock against a 20 knot, freezing, sleety northerly to reach the water-point?

 

I had the option of buying a cheap flat or living on my boat - the boat environment suits me much better. Whatever others say I reckon it is much cheaper to live on the boat than in a flat/bedsit. Give up the car & it gets even more economical!

 

Alan

[Khayamanzi]

I've now been living on my boat for getting on for two years (still a short time I know), and I'm enjoying it. I was brought up on boats - though we lived mostly in a house next to a river.

 

If I had the money, I would probably buy a nice house with a canal side mooring, and a boat sitting at the end of the garden waiting for me. Since money is short I find living aboard is a cheap way of owning a boat - but I still own property which is being rented out, which is good insurance for many reasons.

 

It's not as cheap as people think - getting a marine morgage is still not easy, and the running costs are far above that of a house, but if you are going to own a boat anyway...?

 

There are a few boats on the system called Corridor or variations on that theme - if you think you could live in a corridor then perhaps you could live in a boat - especially true for a narrowboat.

 

I also notice a lot more wide beam boats about, and I bet nearly every one has been built to live aboard. I would not mind so much, but so many liveaboards don't go anywhere in their boats, which is a shame. I wonder how many just think of it as a convinient and "cheap" way of getting a home, and how many would be interested in owning a boat otherwise.

23286[/snapback]

 

 

This is almost exactly my story and philosophy! In fact this could have ben written by me about my life!! Scary!