Narrow boat as a design studio?

[andork]

Sounds a lot.. what sized boat are you thinking of?

that was a 50ft, it was 3500 per birth, I am assuming its per person?

[cuthound]

that was a 50ft, it was 3500 per birth, I am assuming its per person?

 

Moorings are paid at £x per metre length of bost per annum, irrespective of the number of people on board.

 

Make sure the mooring is residential, or that the owner is prepared to turn a blind eye to someone living aboard on a leisure mooring.

[bargemast]

that was a 50ft, it was 3500 per birth, I am assuming its per person?

That price is for a 50ft berth for the boat, independent of the number of beds onboard.

 

Peter.

[Lady Muck]

Yes, we sketch too, infact I've got a whole 8 hours of ideation sketches to do before Monday. The main issue I had with that was having enough light to sketch in a boat which has portholes, I managed to get an LED desk lamp with daylight bulb that works off an inverter, especially as I have to do Pantone colour referencing it's important. The boat lights we have at the moment are rubbish for this!

[MtB]

One thing is not clear to me, and that is what you mean exactly by using the boat as a 'design studio'.

 

If you mean a place to welcome clients, have design strategy meetings etc then I can't imagine a narrow boat being suitable. Even a widebeam will seem cramped once there are five people around a table. But if you just mean a place to run the Macs then as LM says, power will be the main problem. Get a tug style NB and put a 4kva cocooned diesel genny under the front deck and all your power problems will evaporate.

 

The problem you'll then have is how to get all the fuel you need to the boat

[MissMax]

Yes, we sketch too, infact I've got a whole 8 hours of ideation sketches to do before Monday. The main issue I had with that was having enough light to sketch in a boat which has portholes, I managed to get an LED desk lamp with daylight bulb that works off an inverter, especially as I have to do Pantone colour referencing it's important. The boat lights we have at the moment are rubbish for this!

 

How do you cope in winter or when the weather is cloudy and murky

 

I would appreciate the info

[magictime]

I think we should be careful to keep this issue with powering computer equipment in proportion here... yes, power is always an issue on a boat and running a couple of Macbooks all day represents a pretty significant demand, but only on the scale of basic things like a fridge and a TV. Generally speaking isn't it the very power-hungry mod cons like washers and dryers that go beyond the ability of solar panels and suitcase generators to cope with?

[Arthur Brown]

On most boats having clients round would be very like having clients round into your student flat. Most spaces on a boat are dual purpose, would you be comfortable inviting people into your bedroom? Instructing clients on the fine art of cassette or pump out toilet operation?

[MtB]

 

How do you cope in winter or when the weather is cloudy and murky

 

I would appreciate the info

 

 

LM returns to her home mooring and uses a shoreline, IIRC.

[Lady Muck]

LM returns to her home mooring and uses a shoreline, IIRC.

True, if I didnt have a home mooring Id have to reconsider my solar spec etc.

On most boats having clients round would be very like having clients round into your student flat. Most spaces on a boat are dual purpose, would you be comfortable inviting people into your bedroom? Instructing clients on the fine art of cassette or pump out toilet operation?

There is no way Id have clients over, never gonna happen.

One thing is not clear to me, and that is what you mean exactly by using the boat as a 'design studio'.

 

If you mean a place to welcome clients, have design strategy meetings etc then I can't imagine a narrow boat being suitable. Even a widebeam will seem cramped once there are five people around a table. But if you just mean a place to run the Macs then as LM says, power will be the main problem. Get a tug style NB and put a 4kva cocooned diesel genny under the front deck and all your power problems will evaporate.

 

The problem you'll then have is how to get all the fuel you need to the boat

This is it, its never straightforward.

[Neil2]

On reflection, I think it's a case of where there's a will.

 

On a couple of occasions I've met a woman who CC's and runs an engraving business from her narrowboat. She tells me she has a number of contracts one of which is what you would call a high profile client so this is not a mickey mouse operation. I don't know, but it seems to me the logistics of obtaining materials, powering equipment, sending out finished products etc must be pretty challenging to say the least. i believe she has a house on dry land and you can't help thinking the business would be a whole lot easier to operate from there but, and this is the crux of it, she really wants to live on a boat.

 

I've always taken the view that if you really want something you will find a way of overcoming all obstacles in the way, but I wonder how strong the motivation is in Andork's case. If you have little or no experience of extended canal/river cruising, in the high days of summer it's easy to get carried away with the notion of an idyllic life on the cut. That's why I said wait until the winter and then think long and hard about how much you want to live on a boat.

 

 

[andork]

On reflection, I think it's a case of where there's a will.

 

On a couple of occasions I've met a woman who CC's and runs an engraving business from her narrowboat. She tells me she has a number of contracts one of which is what you would call a high profile client so this is not a mickey mouse operation. I don't know, but it seems to me the logistics of obtaining materials, powering equipment, sending out finished products etc must be pretty challenging to say the least. i believe she has a house on dry land and you can't help thinking the business would be a whole lot easier to operate from there but, and this is the crux of it, she really wants to live on a boat.

 

I've always taken the view that if you really want something you will find a way of overcoming all obstacles in the way, but I wonder how strong the motivation is in Andork's case. If you have little or no experience of extended canal/river cruising, in the high days of summer it's easy to get carried away with the notion of an idyllic life on the cut. That's why I said wait until the winter and then think long and hard about how much you want to live on a boat.

 

 

Yep this was my worry with it, Don't get me wrong the idea of working and living from a boat sounds fantastic, but I think if I was to do it, after the feedback I've had, it would be to live on the boat, and work off it. This obviously brings other problems like mooring etc but it seems much more feasible.

 

this would leave me the option to work freelance on smaller projects from the boat with the safety of a more stable working environment wether it be my own business start up or an agency.

 

I've lived in a tent all year round wild camping with temperatures down to -5. Don't get me wrong, It's a completely different ball game to boating, but I feel some of the struggles are very similar, in some ways worse, with little to no electric so the worry of not enjoying the idea in the winter is less of a worry at least

[BlueStringPudding]

Firstly this is my first post in the community so hey!

 

I am a recent graphic design graduate along with my girlfriend. After spending some time finding work that suites us both we decided to give a start up studio a go. One decision lead to another and we found our selves looking at Narrow boats.

 

Assuming some how we can find the money through a loan or mortgage to get a Narrow boat, we were wondering if it would be practical to have a liveonboat that could double as a small design studio for us both. Not only does the lifestyle suite us down to a tee, but it could be a really nice, quirky way of setting up a new business (taking the 'studio' to potential new clients etc) which could be a great selling point.

 

Obviously this raises lots of questions,

 

-A wide boat would be best, however this limits our cruising

 

-continuous vs marina

 

-enough internet to keep us both online

 

-would you need extra licensing?

 

Ideally in the future we would love 2 boats, 1 designed as a studio and kitted out as such, and the other a live-on but obviously acquiring 1 boat straight out of uni is hard enough, never mind 2.

 

If anyone has any advice on the idea, or Narrow boating in general it would be greatly appreciated

 

Thanks,

Alex

I have a studio on my boat. I bought an ex-hire boat that had two toilets. One bathroom I kept as is, but the second WC I had removed from its cabin but left the sink in. I knocked through this little WC cabin into the next cabin to make a studio with a sink for my paint brushes. The boat has 13 very large windows so there's loads of light and the glass can be lifted out entirely to get a good air flow in summer.

 

My studio has two folding desk surfaces that drop down out the way when not in use and one large curved one that's permanent. I built these myself to fit my needs and the shape of the space. I run a laptop, tablet and printer in there from a 12v socket and a portable 350w inverter for the printer. I don't use all-singing-all-dancing Macs in my work though.

 

My only advice is to source a clean form of heating for the studio. My main heating is a multi fuel stove but it produces a lot of fine ash which settles on everything. That's at one end of the boat. The studio is near the other end so in there I installed a diesel fuelled Taylor's heater so there's no ash or dust settling on wet paint or clean work.

Edited July 30, 2016 by BlueStringPudding

[Lady Muck]

This is a bit off topic but a few years ago when we were setting up our current business and trying to get everything on the cheap we asked a friend whose son was studying graphic design if he could help us with some marketing stuff. We thought it would be good experience for him and look good on his CV and we would pay him a small fee.

We expected to sit down with with a sketch pad and he would come up with some rough design suggestions but he turned up with his MacBook insisting the computer was quicker and better. We were rather underwhelmed with what he eventually came up with and I asked could he try doing some rough sketches- just random thoughts based on what we had discussed. He tried but the results were even more disappointing, and the whole experience was a little embarrassing.

I hope in retrospect that the young guy learned something from this episode. So many of our engagements in the modern world involve the PC I wonder if we are losing the ability, and failing to recognise the value, of able to communicate with simple skills.

Edited for bad grammar...

That just sounds like inexperience, to me, you only gain the commercial skills that people want to see, once you're in the world of work.

[FadeToScarlet]

I don't think that is true. But they are undesirable.

Most of the Marine mortgage providers have stopped doing them. Barclays stopped, Collidge and Partners have IIRC stopped, a friend was looking for one and could find only one provider.

 

I'll agree that a mortgage is, if possible, undesirable. For us, it was the lesser of two or three evils. We couldn't buy anything, in fact even now eight years into our working lives we still can't. Living with parents was not an option, as they didn't have space and weren't where our jobs were. We didn't really have savings, as we'd supported ourselves through university.

 

If we hadn't had the boat, we'd've had to rent, which would have been three times the mortgage payments. We'd still be renting now, and for the foreseeable future, as it's such an expense there's no way we'd be able to afford to save.

 

If we'd rented, that rent would've been about 50-60% of our combined income. As it was, the marine mortgage was about 20-25% of our income. So much so I could afford to take a year off work and study for my PGCE, and support myself when doing so. I couldn't have done that if renting; we'd've been trapped because of the burden of rent.

 

In contrast, we've just finished paying off the marine mortgage, and are now living mortgage free for the foreseeable future. It was a burden at times, but not as big a burden as renting would've been. We had insurance in place should either of us be unable to work. We were able to sell the first boat for only £2k less than we bought it for (ignoring the £5k or so of work we did on it!) which was good going, as we bought at the height of the boom in 2008 and sold at a low point.

 

This is all academic anyway, as marine mortgages are very hard to get, if not unobtainable at the moment; and interest rates are very very high.

 

But they do, eventually, end up with you owning your own floating property, outright or some of the equity on it; which is so, so much better than lining a landlord's pockets.

[bargemast]

Most of the Marine mortgage providers have stopped doing them. Barclays stopped, Collidge and Partners have IIRC stopped, a friend was looking for one and could find only one provider.

 

I'll agree that a mortgage is, if possible, undesirable. For us, it was the lesser of two or three evils. We couldn't buy anything, in fact even now eight years into our working lives we still can't. Living with parents was not an option, as they didn't have space and weren't where our jobs were. We didn't really have savings, as we'd supported ourselves through university.

 

If we hadn't had the boat, we'd've had to rent, which would have been three times the mortgage payments. We'd still be renting now, and for the foreseeable future, as it's such an expense there's no way we'd be able to afford to save.

 

If we'd rented, that rent would've been about 50-60% of our combined income. As it was, the marine mortgage was about 20-25% of our income. So much so I could afford to take a year off work and study for my PGCE, and support myself when doing so. I couldn't have done that if renting; we'd've been trapped because of the burden of rent.

 

In contrast, we've just finished paying off the marine mortgage, and are now living mortgage free for the foreseeable future. It was a burden at times, but not as big a burden as renting would've been. We had insurance in place should either of us be unable to work. We were able to sell the first boat for only £2k less than we bought it for (ignoring the £5k or so of work we did on it!) which was good going, as we bought at the height of the boom in 2008 and sold at a low point.

 

This is all academic anyway, as marine mortgages are very hard to get, if not unobtainable at the moment; and interest rates are very very high.

 

But they do, eventually, end up with you owning your own floating property, outright or some of the equity on it; which is so, so much better than lining a landlord's pockets.

 

Many people just don't understand how hard it can be to make a start in life after your studies, if you haven't got (or don't want) the Financial support of family or friends.

 

You've done very well FTC being mortgage free now, while still young and being owner of your boat instead of having given almost all of your hard earned money to a landlord in those years.

 

Peter.

[Lady Muck]

I dont regret getting a marine morgage either.

[MissMax]

 

My studio has two folding desk surfaces that drop down out the way when not in use and one large curved one that's permanent. I built these myself to fit my needs and the shape of the space. I run a laptop, tablet and printer in there from a 12v socket and a portable 350w inverter for the printer. I don't use all-singing-all-dancing Macs in my work though.

 

My only advice is to source a clean form of heating for the studio. My main heating is a multi fuel stove but it produces a lot of fine ash which settles on everything. That's at one end of the boat. The studio is near the other end so in there I installed a diesel fuelled Taylor's heater so there's no ash or dust settling on wet paint or clean work.

 

Hope you don't mind but i am stealing your idea. It's a brilliant idea and may save me having tantrums

[bargemast]

I dont regret getting a marine morgage either.

 

You are very clever too LM, and you're also extremely good at explaining the inns and outs of your own (and of the many people you know) expériences with boat life.

 

This certainly is a great help for newbies that are ready to jump in the deep without knowing how to stay afloat, and may save them from making stupid décisions.

 

They may still make these stupid décisions, but then it's their own fault as they have been warned and been informed by your often very detailed stories.

 

Peter.

[Lady Muck]

Hope you don't mind but i am stealing your idea. It's a brilliant idea and may save me having tantrums

I have seen said studio and it is wonderful

[BlueStringPudding]

 

Hope you don't mind but i am stealing your idea. It's a brilliant idea and may save me having tantrums

By all means purloin!

[MissMax]

Thank you Lady Muck and BlueStringPudding. Feel a lot more positive going forward