Toilets, pump out or cassette, pump out means you have to move to the pump point, difficult if iced in. Cassette is often preferred, keep a spare one off one on.
Securing good local?moorings at a reasonable price can be a prob ,suppose u know boat must be certificated/inspected ,think on a 5 year loop, security ,and as you would be immersed in water ,proper insulation,if you are considering living on one ,suggest you rent one 4 2 weeks during wintertime , pretty sure the "Dark Knight "(radio 2 ,am show) lives on a narrowboat.
Rent..... In islington, Norffff lundun. It is £660 a month. And the local toe rags throw shopping trolleys at your boat for sport. That price is for the mooring only so plus boat and plus service charges. A mate was after one for years but was too expensive.
You need to research. It's not the happy care-free off-grid heads-down life it was. Too many people flouting the rules around London is slowly turning it into an over regulated and expensive way of life. Narrow boats are toys for rich folk. These rich folk don't like tramps and travellers blocking the canals. Otherwise looks great.
Did a 10 days roundtrip in one 12 years ago. Was a nice and different way to see the English countryside.
A friends son, daughter in law & young 'un live on one. Seems to work for them especially as they've been doing it for years.
Morning @zed I had to smile as the third post down by @Tilly mentions a subject as close to boaters heart as the LHD/RHD debate @Dicky 's kicked off....bogs and batteries, we can drink for hours down the pub on those two topics........ Anyone who has more than a passing interest, have a look at our site here. The Beginners and Buying Guides are fairly easy reading and will help anyone who may be considering moving to ditch crawling. Generally, there is a lot of cross over into our bus world as well, in terms of battery management & DC systems so some of you may find this interesting. We don't claim to be the definitive knowledge on the Inland Waterways life so please feel free to critique the text (be kind to me) via the content improvement box that appears at the bottom of every page. There are real prizes but please keep any suggestions clean, simple and relevant (it is being proofed as we load it up so spelling and grammar don't count). Bear in mind the site is still being populated ready for the full marketing launch at the Crick boat show in May so is missing images, a bit of text tidying and some of the back office calculators but don't be put off. BTW, anyone who is interested in SEO from a commercial point of view and has relevant products or services they want advertising, PM me as this will be an incredible platform for business promotion due to the back-office construction of the site....
In every film/tv about the sort of people only a mother could love, some one always gets bumped off daarn the canaaal. Conclusion...it's dangerous at night in cities.
haha, had a tramp, scrote, whatever trying to get into the front in the middle of Birmingham one night. I had him by the throat & then thought better of it & sent him on his way with a bit of verbal. The next day, he came back round at about 10am to apologise. The trick is to be more of a loon than the loons.......... Kids on the roof in Leamington, who then let the stern rope off. I chased them down the road with the brass tiller bar until Mrs Monkey screeched we were sideways across the cut & would I please rescue her (or similar words of plea). Isolated incidents but still disturbing. No different to some wild camping, it's worse in your head than in practise......
Didn't Eddie Shoestring live on one? So if its good enough for him, and Rosie and Jim, whats not to like...
It was about a minimum of £500 a year to licence from British Waterways last time we were thinking about it, that has to be more than 5 years ago, then the insurance was as much a year as a house is, plus the mooring could be anywhere from £3k to £10k (well that was five years ago), unless you wanted to move it around every 14 days. If we won the lottery I'd consider one, maybe. I remember we went on the Avon in a hire boat and got stung again for a licence from the Environment Agency, they treat people like they do car owners, you have to be there so they screw you. Biggest turn off was the depreciation, unless you bought an old one you were going to lose a lot of money over three years.
@ermintrude1978 , hope this helps.... Like @Wireless says, depreciation on new boats is massive. But by the time you buy, you've already done your research & decided what you want! A 57' narrowboat will cost around £1000 per year for the canal & river licence (it's worked out on length & where you want to go). This accumulated income to the Trust who run the waterways accounts for only about 17% of the total operational cost so is a relatively small price to pay in the grand scheme. Insurance can be from as little as around £120 PA but that depends on the owner. All you really need is 3rd party liability, as using your boat is your risk! Day to day, the biggest issue is fresh water supply. We will never, ever take water for granted again, as we did when house living. Commonly the boats hold around 500L but 1000L is becoming more common. In a marina this is not so much of an issue, but for living on the cut the water points can be spaced out. This is only a real issue in the winter or, for example, if a section of the canal is closed for any reason. I fill every 3 to 4 days. Power is generated by solar, wind & generator (incl engine alternators) plus the common marina hook-up (currently costs around £55 per 1/4 for us for leccy when moored in the marina). If not hooked up, a well designed electrical system is essential, especially if you need near domestic power requirements for 230VAC appliances such as washing machines and hairdryers etc. Toilets are a divisive subject. Pump-out holding tanks have the advantage of fewer empties but who really wants half a tonne of sh1t under the bed? Some do! Cassette toilets need emptying every few days depending on use. Modern ones are very close in operation and style to domestic units even incorporating ceramic bowls. Spare cassettes are essential. Heating raises issues of how-to! Diesel fired Eberspacher & Webasto marine systems feed radiators and can supply hot water. They are limited by size & output so are often supplemented by the multi-fuel stove. It costs us about £600 per year for heating as we only use coal on a stove. 13kg gas bottles last us about 6 weeks for hot water and cooking. Currently around £22 each. Around every 3 years your boat will need slipping onto land or dry docking for hull maintenance. This process will chew about £600 of your hard earnt beer vouchers. Every 4 years the Boat Safety Scheme want to inspect your boat. Assuming no non-compliance issues, allow around £150 quid. This is important as people do die every year as a direct result of poorly maintained systems. Fire and carbon dioxide are the two biggest culprits. Day to day living is harder the older you get. It's a physical but rewarding lifestyle which gives you access to some of the most beautiful parts of the UK, mostly hidden from land livers. So, day to day, life is interesting. The water level is currently rising as we are just off the River Trent but floating pontoons take care of that, for now... However, the sun is currently shining & I have a pair of needy Coots & a growing family of swans that want feeding (they've learn't to tap on the hull). Before it rains again though, I've got coal to fetch, the water to top-up and a sh1t can to empty. Must go.......
