3 weeks aboard and thoughts so far!

[blackrose]

 

I lived in a motorhome for 4 1/2 years, so I have a pretty good idea of what it's like.

I guess it's different strokes for different folks, but since you were so familiar with motorhomes and liked the lifestyle so much, it does seem odd that you chose to live on a boat. I've been living on boats coming up for 13 years. I like living on the water and I'd hate to live in a van.

[b0atman]

My friend lives on a boat summer and now does morocco and spain 6 months through winter in an American Motorhome which has 2 slide outs so lots of room inside.

Edited November 28, 2014 by b0atman

[Delta9]

Surely owning a motorhome is going to cost more than a boat. Insurance seems ridiculous.

The insurance on my motorhome was about the same as a car. I found it a lot cheaper than boat living.

 

 

I don't know about the costs, but I've met a couple of people living in motorhomes who feel they're often looked upon as the scum of the earth. I never get that sort of reaction from people when I tell them I live on a boat. The ones I met weren't doing because they liked it.

I also found that people look down on you for living in a motorhome, but only really in the UK. Other counties not so much. Most people I know that have lived in vans have done so because they wanted to and enjoyed it.

 

 

I guess it's different strokes for different folks, but since you were so familiar with motorhomes and liked the lifestyle so much, it does seem odd that you chose to live on a boat. I've been living on boats coming up for 13 years. I like living on the water and I'd hate to live in a van.

It does seem odd, yes. I have no idea why I made that decision. I do like living on the water and definitely prefer it to living in a house but a motorhome gives you much more freedom and choice of places to go. The actual living in it part is not much different to a boat.

[Southern Star]

 

 

 

I also found that people look down on you for living in a motorhome, but only really in the UK.

 

And most of those people will have 100% interest-only mortgages on a house worth £30,000 less than they paid for it, and which is destined to crash even further in value as soon as interest rates start moving upwards... Isn't snobbery a bizarre thing?

 

I hope you find a way to make narrowboating work out but at the end of the day, if it doesn't it shouldn't be too difficult to cash in your chips and start again in a motorhome. I spend five days a week living in the cab of an articulated lorry, which is far smaller than the smallest motorhome, and I'm fine with that.

[Lady Muck]

I guess it's different strokes for different folks, but since you were so familiar with motorhomes and liked the lifestyle so much, it does seem odd that you chose to live on a boat. I've been living on boats coming up for 13 years. I like living on the water and I'd hate to live in a van.

I don't get it either, but suppose the thing is, he doesn't go anywhere, he lives on it at the boatyard where he is the caretaker. Our old neighbour was an Irish traveller (our mooring was created on a traveller site). He lived onboard but kept a motor home here. It used to amuse me how he would always sit in his motor home to read the paper. I suppose old habits die hard. He's in a flat now, but he kept the motor home. I wonder if he still sits in it to read his paper?

Edited November 29, 2014 by Lady Muck

[floatsyourboat]

I don't get it either, but suppose the thing is, he doesn't go anywhere, he lives on it at the boatyard where he is the caretaker. Our old neighbour was an Irish traveller (our mooring was created on a traveller site). He lived onboard but kept a motor home here. It used to amuse me how he would always sit in his motor home to read the paper. I suppose old habits die hard. He's in a flat now, but he kept the motor home. I wonder if he still sits in it to read his paper?

Lady Muck have you got me confused with someone else as I'm not a caretaker?

Anyway for me it's not about it being a boat or a motor home really when I think about it it's the winter in the Uk.

Living here in a van in the winter wouldn't be much different although being parked in Portugal in the sun would be rather nice, but either way I'm getting the hang of keeping the fire in no problem now which is keeping things warm enough!

I'm looking forward to Spring and travelling around the Cheshire ring and who knows where!

It beats living in a house and I'm already feeling a sense of adventure creeping in!

Thanks.

The insurance on my self converted van was £300 a year!

Edited November 29, 2014 by floatsyourboat

[Emerald Fox]

"you need new batteries for your ecofan.....or a hamster." - what, a hamster in place of a hot water bottle? Might bite yer toes!

 

When you have long underwear on (trousers & vest) you can laugh at the cold. If it's very cold, try 2 pairs of long underwear.

 

I reckon hot water bottles wrapped in towels, so they give out their heat slowly, and placed here & there round the boat (and a couple in your bed without the towels) helps, and it gives you something to do on those long winter evenings anyway.

 

A little car inside-heater (800 Watts?) placed inside the engine room and running for, say, 4 hours, will nicely warm the engine up before engaging the starter - of course, you'd need shoreline electrickery for that.

[Alan de Enfield]

 

 

A little car inside-heater (800 Watts?) placed inside the engine room and running for, say, 4 hours, will nicely warm the engine up before engaging the starter - of course, you'd need shoreline electrickery for that.

 

Used to travel (on business) a fair bit in Scandinavia, made some good friends and often stayed at their homes.

 

It was initially quite a surprise to see them 'plugging their car in' every night, until it was explained that they had an 'engine-room' heater, and a small heater in the passenger foot well to take off the 'chill'. On getting out of bed, would switch the heaters on, and by the time we were ready to go the car wold be warm and the engine 'unfrozen'

 

An obvious adaption for the local environment.

[tree monkey]

 

Used to travel (on business) a fair bit in Scandinavia, made some good friends and often stayed at their homes.

 

It was initially quite a surprise to see them 'plugging their car in' every night, until it was explained that they had an 'engine-room' heater, and a small heater in the passenger foot well to take off the 'chill'. On getting out of bed, would switch the heaters on, and by the time we were ready to go the car wold be warm and the engine 'unfrozen'

 

An obvious adaption for the local environment.

Whilst staying in Canada I remember scoffing at the fancy block heaters and the even fancier car auto start accessories.

 

Until the winter really hit that was, unfortunately I was staying in a Un modernised rural farm house without power to the garage, bloody hell it was cold

[Lady Muck]

Lady Muck have you got me confused with someone else as I'm not a caretaker?

No, I'm talking about an old boy who is the caretaker at a boatyard up here - Blackrose was wondering why on earth he moved from a 70 foot boat to a motorhome.

[floatsyourboat]

No, I'm talking about an old boy who is the caretaker at a boatyard up here - Blackrose was wondering why on earth he moved from a 70 foot boat to a motorhome.

Ahh right ha ha

[Bettie Boo]

Whilst staying in Canada I remember scoffing at the fancy block heaters and the even fancier car auto start accessories.

 

Until the winter really hit that was, unfortunately I was staying in a Un modernised rural farm house without power to the garage, bloody hell it was cold

I always had a block heater in my car, right up to the car I had before moving over here in '99 - not out of the normal for to have many days of -30 with the wind chill factor and that little block heater meant I was always able to get my car started regardless of the temps

[tree monkey]

I always had a block heater in my car, right up to the car I had before moving over here in '99 - not out of the normal for to have many days of -30 with the wind chill factor and that little block heater meant I was always able to get my car started regardless of the temps

yeah i really saw the point of them after the first week of real winter.

the first time my tears and snot froze i started to understand what cold really is and appreciate shopping malls with underground passages to get to the next mall

my friends and i dared each other to go out to the post box at the end of the drive dressed in normal house clothes, as the driveway was icy and being an old farm house long, running was out of the question so it involved a sort of careful fast hobble, followed by half an hour sat by the heating vents shivering

 

an amazing country but there is no way i would want to live with those winters again

[Bettie Boo]

I'm with you there Monkey...I couldn't go back to those winters now.

 

I love English winters, bit of rain, chilly enough to put on a scarf & coat sometimes and that's about it. No need for thermal undies or fur lined gloves/boots