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AMA
Original poster

I live on a Narrowboat AMA

52 replies

Narrowboatmum · 30/03/2021 00:15

Name changed for this as some of the answers may be outing! But as the title says I live on a Narrowboat AMA :)

OP posts:
LegendDairy · 30/03/2021 00:16

Chemical, composting or pump-out?

TheChippendenSpook · 30/03/2021 00:18

Exciting! I have loads but I'm about to go to bed.

What's bilge and how the heck does water get into a sealed boat.

What length is your narrowboat and how quickly do you get used to the locks?

How long have you lived on your boat for?

Thanks Smile

bitheby · 30/03/2021 00:20

Is it really expensive to maintain? Do you have to dry dock it often to paint the bottom?

Is there anything you miss about living in a house (assuming you once did)?

ErrolTheDragon · 30/03/2021 00:22

Do you have a mooring you're at most of the time or do you move around a lot?

choppolata · 30/03/2021 00:25

What happens if you lose the key for a guillotine lock and nobody else is around?

Does everything you own live on the boat with you or have you got storage elsewhere?

nursejekyll · 30/03/2021 00:28

Do you feel safe at night?
How many people live on the boat?

Rebeccasmoonnecklace · 30/03/2021 00:30

Do you have any pets on board with you? Smile

PainterInPeril · 30/03/2021 00:31

Everybody is asking intelligent questions here, except me!Grin....Have you ever fallen in the water and can you swim?! Grin

silkpillowcases · 30/03/2021 00:31

What made you want to live on a boat? I think it's brilliant, love to walk along my local canal.

AlexaRain · 30/03/2021 00:41

One from DD, do you like to wave back at children who wave at you from the canal path?

Original poster
Narrowboatmum · 30/03/2021 00:41

@LegendDairy chemical/cassette.

@TheChippendenSpook the bilge is the bottom of the boar, bilge water is the water that gets in. There’s lots of ways for water to get in, annoyingly!. Our boat is 70’. We went on a couple of holidays before living aboard and after about a day on holiday we got used to the locks, but had done a lot of research beforehand. We’ve lived on it just over a year now.

@bitheby it isn’t that expensive, for us it costs less than a house would!. Usually you need to paint the bottom every 4ish years, so it doesn’t need to be done enough to be an inconvenience!. I don’t think there’s much I miss about having a house, not having to worry about electricity/plumbing etc is probably the thing I miss the most but then I leave all that up to DH😂

@ErrolTheDragon We were really lucky to get a mooring with a garden space, we live there however sometimes will go away for a weekend or so.

@choppolata I can’t answer about losing a key as that has never happened to us! Most things are on our boat, we have a shed in our mooring and we store some stuff out there, like our tumble dryer but most things are on our boat.

@nursejekyll yeah I feel very safe, but we moor in a residential mooring so there are lots of other boaters around. Me, DH and our 2 DC live on the boat.

@Rebeccasmoonnecklace no pets yet, we are considering a fish😂

@PainterInPeril I haven’t fell in..yet. I can swim, DH couldn't when we decided to get a boat so he got swimming lessons!.

@silkpillowcases originally DH wanted to as he wanted to work in London and boats are cheaper than houses there. Then we moved to a uni city that had lots of canals and boats and just fell in love with the lifestyle.

Just a disclaimer that DH does most of the mechanical stuff and is asleep next to me, so I may not be able to answer some things but I’ll get him to tomorrow!

OP posts:
Original poster
Narrowboatmum · 30/03/2021 00:42

@AlexaRain yes we love it! Our DC are almost 2 and 4 months old, and our daughter loves waving at other children.

OP posts:
nursejekyll · 30/03/2021 00:44

How much is the maintenance of mooring the boat etc? Can you order takeaway - do you get post?

WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo · 30/03/2021 00:45

Where do you put "stuff" just general junk. Or don't you have any? Will you come and declutter my house for me? Grin

PurpleRainDancer · 30/03/2021 00:47

How do you heat your boat? Does it ever feel damp?
Do you have to be good at decluttering? TY

Original poster
Narrowboatmum · 30/03/2021 00:58

@nursejekyll our mooring is just under 3000. Then you have to pay for a waterways licence and insurance etc, and your utilities. We can order takeaway, as we have a residential mooring there is a house nearby where the owners of the mooring work. We order food to there and wait outside to collect it. Our mail also goes there.

@WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo We have lots of built in storage/shelves etc. Our boat does look quite cluttered though, I decided to make our decor ‘eclectic’ so that it looked like clutter was intended😂

@PurpleRainDancer we have a pellet stove and gas central heating. It doesn’t feel damp as we keep it well insulated. And we have to stay on top of clutter but it definitely isn’t minimalist!

OP posts:
BionicEar · 30/03/2021 01:05

My DD want to ask if you have any form of electricity such as to watch tv or to power up devices like mobiles. If not, how do you charge up your mobile?

Rebeccasmoonnecklace · 30/03/2021 01:06

@Narrowboatmum A goldfish sounds like an ideal companion 😂

LabbyNoona · 30/03/2021 01:13

Does the boat shake when you have sex? Grin sorry, lowering the tone but I have always wondered!

LudoTrouble · 30/03/2021 06:21

Why did you choose this life?

What do people who live on narrow boats call themselves as a community? Is it a close knit community?

Are there any Instagram accounts or blogs you can recommend that showcase the lifestyle?

Sparklingbrook · 30/03/2021 06:43

Do you think it will still be doable as the children get older /bigger? ie when they are teenagers and need space and want to have friends over etc?

It sounds idyllic while they are little.

Original poster
Narrowboatmum · 30/03/2021 08:03

@BionicEar yep we have electricity! We have a tv, but everything runs off 12v

@Rebeccasmoonnecklace a goldfish would definitely be a lot cleaner than my DH that’s for sure!

@LabbyNoona it doesn’t for us, but then again we have 2 young children so we definitely aren’t going crazy. I can imagine that if you were having a proper session then maybe it would rock a bit😂

@LudoTrouble we just wanted something a bit different to a house and we loved how the closeness to nature. Some people call themselves river Gypsys or water Gypsys, a lot of people just say boaters. It is quite close, on my mooring we know everyone and get on better than most neighbours in a normal house. If people moor here for leisure then we all are very accommodating/accepting. There aren’t many Instagram accounts/blogs really, even less for people with children. Most are just personal accounts.

@Sparklingbrook we hope so! We may have to change our layout so the kids can have their own room, or get a wider boat. When they’re older we’d be happy to let them have their friends around and DH and I could go for a walk or something so they have to boat to themselves, or stay at a neighbours boat. When they’re older teens and have partners then as long as they’re sensible DH and I would get a hotel or something so they could have sleepovers without us being so close to them, and obviously they can always stay at their friends house.

OP posts:
Orchidflower1 · 30/03/2021 15:05

Do you worry about the children falling in?

Can you feel the motion of the water constantly?

Original poster
Narrowboatmum · 30/03/2021 15:35

@Orchidflower1 not really, there is always someone with our kids and close enough to catch them if they were too close to the water. We are strict with safety. You can’t feel it at all really, it’s very rare to get seasick on a canal boat. Sometimes if another boat goes past quite fast then it can be noticeable.

OP posts:
Abracadabra12345 · 30/03/2021 16:05

Do you feel on top of each other?