Regreting living aboard

[Québec]

When did you meet me then?

Ah...now I remember!

[carlt]

we're on first name terms with everyone who lives on our street plus a few more in neighbouring streets. We all help each other out and look out for each other. I know that's rare, but it can't be unique.

 

Not even unique on this forum.

 

Admittedly I don't know everyone's first name (too many goddamn immigrants, I can't pronounce many of them) but everybody is quick to help out and the old folk must get sick of having their door knocked, to see if they need anything.

[Lady Muck]

It's also what you want out of it.

 

Wot he says - I like Tottenham Marsh in the winter, lovely and quiet - no picnics or barbecues for the dog to raid.

[Barry]

Dunno....Ask Bazza.

 

 

 

Well I'm using the cold weather to my advantage at the minute - I keep going round the house squeegeeing the condensation off the windows where it is gathering nicely because the windows are so bloody cold. It's a backup for the dehumidifiers

[FrigateCaptain]

I think the worst type of boating must be:

 

- stuck miles from no where

-last winter stuck on the wrong side of dundas with a trek for water

- no elec hookup

None of that, not even a genny back then

- diesel running low

Sack trucking jerry cans

- 12V lamps - bad lighting

Its a boat

- running out of wood/coal

We had NO heating, the record was -8 inside the boat

- kids cold and bored

Wife with morning sickness

- water pipes frozen

Yup for 3 weeks

- batteries dying

Nope ours were fine

 

Compared to :

 

- Moored near a big city

God why?, We're stuck in Bath and hate it

- elec hookup

Gen set

- no need for diesel

Not planning on starting your motor at all?

- 220V lamps plugged in

Again, its a boat

- oil heaters in every cabin

Gen set

- TVs, DVDs, Computers for the kids

Inverter/12v leads/gen set?

- battery charge on full

Start your engine?

 

So...I would say it's what you make it?

 

To be honest, it is what you make it, However, if you want to make it a house, why not stay in one?

Edited December 21, 2010 by FrigateCaptain

[Chagall]

To be honest, it is what you make it, However, if you want to make it a house, why not stay in one?

 

because you cant move a house?....wanting it to have the comforts of a house is not a sissy option, it just makes life a bit easier and with the exciting feature of being able to shift it all when neighbours become cynical.

[nb Innisfree]

It's all made much easier if you can DIY and are a bit innovative, helps if you can pre-empt things by lots of forward planning and not putting all your eggs in one basket. Due to unforseen circumstances we have spent the last few months in a house, all mod cons but the novelty has gone and we are missing our metal tube.

[sueb]

If you have regrets based on a few weeks challenging weather then maybe there is a greater underlying issue

 

 

 

But, its better to regret something you have done, than to regret not having done it

I have no regrets having lived aboard for over 20yrs, but we still have a house that we visit occasionally. We haven't got hook up or a generator and I love our pumpout. It does seem that some are not finding it lives up to their dream, but obviously not on this forum.

Sue

[carlt]

It does seem that some are not finding it lives up to their dream, but obviously not on this forum.

I think the names just stop appearing, as they drift off to a life ashore (except for those who miss it so much, we can't stay away).

[the Jolly Mutineer]

Do I regret living aboard & has the dream ended?

 

Absolutely not

 

Moved onto boarded out shell on midsummer's day & in the six months that followed have wood butchered, wired & plumbed the old dear to a fair degree of comfort

 

That said, glad its midwinter solstice today & summers slowly coming back round again. Frozen in at the start of the month with the solstice weeks off gave a few 'blimey' grins whilst catching me breath cutting wood. But learning to adapt has given the occasional small sense of acheivement.

 

Glad I've a cartridge to empty rather than looking at the same bucket of muck for two months.

[gilby]

Third winter for me and the mrs.

Yes it can be hard work getting supplies such as fuel, gas and water but we love our rural mooring, our boat, the friends we've made.

I always say it, pros vastly out weigh the cons.

[canaldrifter]

One of the great things about a hard winter, on my mooring was that the mud and cow poo was solid.

 

It does make picking up dog poo a pleasure too, if you leave it where it is for 24 hours.

 

Tone

[Lady Muck]

I prefer snow to mild wet winters in some ways, haven't had to wash the rugs this week because no-one has brought any mud in <looks at dog>

 

We're noobs though, compared to our marina neighbours - most of 'em have been liveaboard for 10+ years, some never lived in a house, some started off in trucks, trailers or squats and moved to boats. Haven't really met any 'Waterworld watching' fair weather boaters tbh. Although they must exist!

Edited December 21, 2010 by Lady Muck

[Guest]

Haven't really met any 'Waterworld watching' fair weather boaters tbh. Although they must exist!

 

Indeed we they do and then we they move(d) on to harsh weather boating, we then they get their(our) own boat and if it goes fully to plan we they eventually move aboard full time - luckily the narrowboating community is a broad church.

 

Nowt wrong with Waterworld BTW - Kevin C is a great actor...

Edited December 21, 2010 by MJG

[Lady Muck]

Indeed they do and then they move on to harsh weather boating, then they get their own boat and if it goes fully to plan we they evtually move aboard full time - luckily the narrowboating community is a broad church.

 

Nowt wrong with Waterworld BTW - Kevin C is a great actor...

 

See I don't see you as one of these types, you did lots of hiring including in winter.

 

I Suppose we're more fair weather boaters - I like to be moored up with the stove on full blast come November.

Edited December 21, 2010 by Lady Muck

[Guest]

- I like to be moored up with the stove on full blast come November.

 

Well we do too of course we do - but I do like actual boating in the winter though too, colder the better.

 

Our problem this winter though has been getting to the darn boat. Currently searching in earnest for a marina closer to home, tis not funny worrying about your boat when it's 150 miles away in the current climate.

[Midnight Rider]

I've spent the last 2 winters (mostly) on board,but this time I've moved out.

 

It's not the cold weather (worked with horses for 20 years, so used to that) or the frozen water taps etc.

 

It's the feeling that I'm enclosed in this steel coffin -- ok it's a nice warm one with all mod cons, but I like to have doors/windows/hatches open.

 

In some respects it was better when I was working & having time out in the big world.

 

So --- spring, summer, autumn ---- great. Iced in & confined to barracks --- no thanks.

 

Tony

[Guest wanted]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFRuLFR91e4

[Ange]

Does anyone regret selling the house and living aboard or do you regard this weather as a challenge?

Sue

 

 

Nope not for a second. This is our second winter as liveaboards - rented the house rather than sell it but can't imagine going back to it.

 

I love the late autumn / early spring when the canal is ours - we can cruise for miles with no other boaters in sight and the waters are dead clear. It's a bit like living in a holiday resort when all the tourists have gone home (brought up in Southend-on-Sea!)

 

We managed fine iced in for six weeks last year and have had a bit of a hiccup this year but still loving it (iced in since late November)

 

Tis grand

[Ange]

The weather for me though would never be a valid reason to give up living aboard, it's crap at the moment for a lot of folks on the cut, totally agree, but it's only a couple of weeks and it's only been this year and last as far as I can remember, many years before that.

 

Damned unfortunate that we chose last year & this year as our first two living aboard - six weeks iced in last year and since end November so far this one! I look forward to the one or two weeks

[Naughty Cal]

As part time liveaboards (3 nights out of 7 each week) we would love to move aboard on a permenant basis but dont envisage us doing so on a NB or widebeam canal boat. We do plan at some point in the future to move aboard a boat, we enjoy being on the water much more than being in bricks and mortar but for now we are happy to have both. It suits our current lifestyle. In the future we will be able to move aboard with our eyes wide open to the advantages and disadvantages of living on the water.

[cotswoldsman]

I consider myself to be very lucky that i discovered this lifestyle. I don't like winters full stop and yes it can be a challenge all I need to do is look at my website and remember the great days I have had that I would never have had should I still be in my house. The fact that I was only going to do this for 2 years and am now about to enter my fifth I think bears this out. I can change my view anytime I want. I have hooked up to electric 3 times once in Liverpool for 1 week, and this year in Bristol for 3 days and once when my boat was in a marina after a repaint. I went in with my eyes completely closed having never been on a narrowboat before I bought "Gemma Joy" According to my children (and they know me best) they have never known me so relaxed and happy, and I was retired for 4 years before I bought the boat. Those four years were hell living in my house and just not knowing what to do. I have had the pleasure of making some very good friends since moving onto my boat. A few weeks ago when I put on my website that I was stuck in the ice and waiting for the coal boat a fellow boater offered to drive from Norbury to Banbury to bring me coal, where else would that happen that someone would offer to do a 200 mile round trip to help someone out!!

Do I have any regrets NO!!!!!!

[Chris Pink]

I think the worst type of boating must be:

 

- stuck miles from no where

- no elec hookup

- diesel running low

- 12V lamps - bad lighting

- running out of wood/coal

- kids cold and bored

- water pipes frozen

- batteries dying

 

Compared to :

 

- Moored near a big city

- elec hookup

- no need for diesel

- 220V lamps plugged in

- oil heaters in every cabin

- TVs, DVDs, Computers for the kids

- battery charge on full

 

So...I would say it's what you make it?

 

It's quite difficult to see why you should want to live on a boat with that kind of comparison.

 

Are you simply after cheap housing?

 

I don't see eye to eye with Mrs Melly very often but hers seems a good POV for having a mooring, your first list is simply a set of challenges to face that are different from, but no harder, than the challenges involved in the 2nd.,

[Roger Gunkel]

Does anyone regret selling the house and living aboard or do you regard this weather as a challenge?

Sue

 

I'm not quite sure from your post whether you are regretting your decision or just curious as to whether others are.

 

This is our seventh winter as liveaboards and I miss nothing about house dwelling in the winter. We have a number of requirements for winter living which are:- being warm onboard at all times, having no damp, enough fuel for the whole winter, copious food and water supplies, sufficient power, plenty to do. These requirements would be the same for wherever we lived, be it house, flat, caravan, motorhome or boat.

 

Our boat and mooring provide us with all of these things and apart from some mods during the first winter, it is just another season. My wife really loves the winter and when the nights start drawing in at the end of October, she can't wait to get the stove going and see the warm glow. It does seem that a number of liveaboard boats that I see, are fine up to and including cool weather, but when the hard winter freeze starts, many previously unseen problems become apparent. There are two of the liveaboards on the marina here, that were totally confident about the onset of winter when I spoke to them in October, but both have now moved into family's houses, due to not being able to keep warm enough, dripping with condensation and feeling generally miserable.

 

Living on a boat comfortably in winter requires a certain ammount of preparation, not neccessarily more than a house, just different. Unfortunately, if the boat is not up to the job, then things will still be hard. I well remember as a lad, having ice on the inside of my bedroom window, layers of thick blankets and a freezing cold bathroom and kitchen. We sat round the fire in the evening, feeling the draught round our ankles. These days, modern housing is double walled, cavity insulated, roof insulated and double glazed, plus central heating, so they are all year round protected. Unfortunately, most boats aren't built to that level of protection. I have nade sure that our boat is well insulated, double glazed and well heated, so we don't have any winter fears at all.

 

A boat is not a house and neither should it be, but the same rules of physics apply wherever you live for keeping warm, dry and comfortable.

 

Have a warm and happy Christmas everyone!

 

Roger

[Amduck]

The community we have here at Thrupp especialy with the winter moorers is far better than house dwelling communitys, we all know each others names, help each other out and eight of us have just met at the pub for the last couple of hours, how many people do you know in your house location ?

 

 

These days, modern housing is double walled, cavity insulated, roof insulated and double glazed, plus central heating, so they are all year round protected.

 

 

Another part-time liveaboard here. We too know pretty much everyone in our small village by name, and regularly meet many of them round the pub

 

Our house meets Roger's description re insulation, CH, double glazing etc., and yet we have still had frozen pipes twice so far - those in the know suspect there might be a gap in our cavity insulation, so I was quite glad to get back to the boat last night knowing that I would be able to shower this morning! The boat is easy to warm up, and to keep warm, but I too worry a little when leaving it for a few days (although Bazza's experience proves that potential problems are there for houses too.)

 

I do know of one person who gave up living aboard after last winter.