We seem to be a novelty after the floods have abated here in this part of Leicestershire.
It is one of the lovely things we find about narrowboat living – people are curious about how we live because it’s a bit different. Additionally, we can often be found outside alongside or easily available sitting out on our boat, so we are accessible for a chat.
There’s been a thread this week on one of the narrowboat social media networks about regularly asked questions and it’s made me realise from that while many like us love the questions and opportunities for sharing our lived experiences, others seem to find these interrogations irritating, even intrusive. We find sharing our delight in living afloat is genuinely one of the appeals of this way of life.
So here are the top 20 questions we’ve been asked this past year, starting with the most recent and most frequent…
Where did you go when the recent floods happened?
A boat below the lock near us was evacuated, but we stayed aboard. We had to wade along the towpath but for us the safest place because our home will rise in flood waters if we’ve slackened the ropes sufficiently, and we were in a safe spot, unlikely to be washed off where we had moored or washed onto the towpath. We need to slacken ropes so the boat can float up and not tip, allowing water to enter vents, which would then sink us.
Is it cold on board / you must be cold ?
We are probably a lot warmer than most people in bricks and mortar homes. We have a 5kw multi fuel stove which we keep going 24/7 in the winter and it really warms the entire boat beautifully. As I write this the Skipper is in his T-shirt and Boatdog is panting because she’s sitting way too close to the fire. Our stove only has to heat what is effectively a single space of 50ft x 6ft 5 at its widest so we stay very toasty.
Where do you live in the winter / can you live on board all the time?
It is tempting to ask people if they move out of their homes in the winter! But yes, we live on board all year round because it is our home. Personally I love the winter on the waterways – it’s quiet and so cosy on board although the winter stoppages for repairs and maintenance work curtails cruising a bit. It is fun trying to work out a way round the stoppages though.
How do you do your shopping?
Usually with a backpack and we walk to local shops, or bus stops to towns. Alternatively, at the moment, we have the luxury of a car, which is making us very lazy, and we have been able to do some stocking up big shops as a result. Today, for example, we went to a supermarket for food and a wood yard where we bought a lot of wood for the next internal project and we were able to transport it back.
What do you do for showers and toilets?
Um… what do you do? We have a flush toilet on board which feeds into cassettes that seal and we take them to disposal points along the inland waterways networks and empty there. When we first bought the boat it had a big tank under the floor for toilet waste but it was very old and had holes in it! We decided that replacing it with cassettes which we can store if we have to then empty would be safer than one large tank if we were stuck somewhere for any length of time like a frozen canal or a breach of canal.
We also have a shower on board fed by water heated when we are running the engine/cruising along. If we are stationary for any length of time we boil kettles and use a shower pump from a bucket – a system designed for van life but brilliant for saving us energy and water. I’m proud to know I can have a good shower and hair wash with a single bucket.
Do you do your washing in the canal/river?
Er – no. We have a full sized washing machine on board. It has a cold water feed and we give it a flask of boiling water to get it started and save power. We run a cold water wash and it has a 1600rpm spin which is wonderful – clothes come out almost dry. They just need a quick dry on the airer above the multi fuel stove or on the rotary washing line that fits on the back of the boat.
Can you stand up inside?
Yes. As you go into the boat from the towpath you go down steps so head height is over 6ft. One tall family visitor finds doorways challenging but that can happen in a shore based cottage too!
Do you have the internet?
We do indeed. It is vital for our work. Over the years we have used different systems. At one point it involved putting up an aerial every time we moored up, and trying to remember to take it down every time we set off again (didn’t always remember and it finally came to serious grief on the first bridge into Burton on Trent from Willington on the Trent and Mersey Canal). Then we had a box shaped aerial on the roof 5G. We now have an EE 5G router internally which seems to do the trick.
How do you know where to stop?
We look for somewhere that looks good for us – not too near a main road, a railway, or a bridge or on a bend which would make us mooring there a hazard for others; not under overhanging trees (dangerous in high winds and useless for solar); and with a bank or edge that looks good to moor to. Some designated areas on waterways maps show you whether they are limited to 48 hours, a week or if nothing is stated then we’re fine there for 14 days. At the moment we are on a winter mooring for the first time which means we have paid Canal and River Trust so we can stay here longer than 14 days and for as long as we’ve paid for.
Can you stop wherever you like?
See above, although there are some lovely mooring spots which are private, so we can’t stop there. A general rule of thumb for continuous cruisers like us (boaters who don’t have a permanent mooring) is that we should be mooring on the towpath side only.
What’s your favourite place to stop?
This is unbelievably difficult to answer. We have places and canals we have loved for different reasons, and still many more to explore. Among our favourites are Stoke Golding and Snarestone on the Ashby; Bollington and the Dane Aqueduct on the Macclesfield; Selby on the Selby Canal; Nantwich on the Shropshire Union; Penkridge and Tixall Wide on the Staffs and Worcester; Ellesmere on the Llangollen; virtually anywhere on the Monty and oh so many more. Every canal has places we love. There are cities and towns, villages and those moorings in the middle of nowhere… all are unique at the time and season we visit them.
How far can you go?
Physically the connected network goes up to Ripon in North Yorkshire, down to Godalming in Surrey, west to Llangollen in Wales and east to Brandon in Suffolk on the Little River Ouse.
What’s the furthest you’ve every been?
We’ve been north to Selby, south and east to London, and west to Llangollen. We have many miles to explore yet!
Can you have pets on a boat?
Yes. We have a Boatdog. Our first was a wonderful black working cocker spaniel who belonged to our youngest daughter. We lost him two years ago at the age of 15. His successor is a cockerpoo who came aboard at the age of six and a half years old? Some people have cats, rabbits, all sorts of birds, reptiles and I’ve also seen goldfish on board.
Don’t you wish you had a bigger/wider boat?
Occasionally, I wish for an extra few feet in length but this size of boat can go anywhere on the connected navigation, and so she really is perfect
What do you miss?
Sometimes I miss being able to have a long soak in a bath, but then I can have one as a treat on holidays and visits to generous family and friends.
As we’re in Britain there are always the indirect questions like
Bet it’s dirt cheap to live on a boat
I always let the Skipper answer that with facts and figures. He tells everyone about the regular almost continuous maintenance costs, licence fee, fuel that means it isn’t hugely cheap.
I’d love to live on a boat but you can only live like that when you’re retired
Well, we haven’t retired. If you want to do something , do it. Living aboard the way we do have enabled us to downshift so we don’t have to work as hard/as much but that’s as much the lifestyle we choose to live that’s made the difference as it is boat life.
Bet it’s scary/dangerous/miserable/exciting living on a boat
At times it can be all of these things and living in a house for us was often only 2 of them… on a boat it’s also beautiful, inspiring, and possible to pull up your ropes and move on if you don’t like the neighbours!
There is always something to see, to learn, to discover, and amazing wildlife all around.
And the easiest question of all to answer –
Would you ever go back to living in a house ?
Not for many many years until I can’t physically manage to live on the boat. We are making preparations to future proof to boat so we don’t have to heave coal and logs and gas on board so we are trying to make it possible for us to stay aboard and cruise as long as possible. At some point in the future we may even consider a ratchet windlass…
Oh and an extra question that we get asked a lot –
Have you ever fallen in?
Yup. Once in broad daylight when I trod on grass that was not the edge of the river bank but just grass sticking out over the water and once in the dead of night when I stepped off a lock walkboard into nothing and landed in the canal.
The Skipper also joined the Mermaid Club in a canal basin whilst mooring the boat on the Peak Forest Canal.
Pickingupducks 