I live on a Narrowboat AMA

[Narrowboatmum]

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

Who made your boat?

Do you get rats?

@Abracadabra12345 not really no, I think we would if we were continuous cruisers but having a garden makes things easier.

@Amberheartkitty Evans and sons

@AdelaideK we’ve seen rats on the canals but have never had a rat in our boat, so far!

@LudoTrouble I have recently found Foxes Afloat and have fallen down that YouTube tunnel

Thanks!

Such an interesting thread OP thanks.

Do you put up a Christmas tree?

@PurpleRainDancer

Such an interesting thread OP thanks.

Do you put up a Christmas tree?

I’m glad you’ve found it interesting! And yep we do, we put up decorations like garlands etc too.

How do you do your laundry?

@coogee

How do you do your laundry?

We have a washing machine on board and a shed with a tumble dryer in. Although sometimes we put it on an clothes airer in front of our fire, or hang it on the line we have in our mooring. So like anyone else does really

My brother lives on a barge. 3 of my friends do too. Not for me.
Will you ever sell and buy a house again? Will you be able to afford to?

@Oblomov21

My brother lives on a barge. 3 of my friends do too. Not for me. Will you ever sell and buy a house again? Will you be able to afford to?

We aren’t planning on it at the minute, but you never know what the future holds. We could afford to, hopefully

Would you go cruising? Or do you like having the permanent mooring? Are you planning to send your kids to school?

[quote CaurnieBred]@LudoTrouble I have recently found Foxes Afloat and have fallen down that YouTube tunnel[/quote]
I am a massive Colin and Shaun (and Otis) fan and although we will never live on a boat ourselves I still like to dream,

@skeggycaggy

Would you go cruising? Or do you like having the permanent mooring? Are you planning to send your kids to school?

I like having the mooring however we do cruise for weekends sometimes over the summer. I don’t know whether I’d continuously cruise whilst the kids are so young as I like to have our garden for them to play in.

And yep, they’re currently in nursery as DH and I both work. But there’s a school close to our mooring that we’d send them to.

If modern civilisation totally broke down, eg no more fossil fuels, no electricity or gas would you be able to use your boat to make a living? Do you think you could transport things as in 18/19 th centuries? Actually I supose you'd still have to have coal. Could you adapt to keeping a horse to travel with? Not assuming it's what you want just wondering if you feel any connection to the originalway of life and contemplate adapting.

But isn’t it a depreciating asset whereas bricks and mortar are the reverse ?.

What's the worst thing about life on a narrow boat?

So interesting! What kind of jobs do you do?

Were family and friends surprised at your choice?

I'm struggling to picture it - would love a mini sketch of boat layout!

Hiya it’s OP, I didn’t realise there were more questions and it’s a new account, hence the name change!

@cateycloggs yes I think we could, but I wouldn’t want to!. I do feel quite connected to the history, and I make sure the DC are educated about it.

@Pyewackectj Not really, there’s quite a high demand for them now especially with house prices going up.

@AnotherBoredOne probably that it’s different to the house for electricity and water. In a house you just turn taps on and don’t have to worry, but we have to make sure to check our water etc.

@Lelophants I’m a teacher and DH is an electrician. Family and friends weren’t really surprised, they’d known that it was something we’d wanted to do for a while. And I will do a sketch tomorrow!

@Lelophants here’s a diagram, please excuse my awful drawing. But that’s a rough idea of what it looks like

Do you have a proper shower?

We live very close to a canal & see the shower block & chemical toilet emptying facility nearby. Made me wonder if everyone has to queue up in the morning with their towels 😊.

Yep we have a proper shower and bath, so no need to queue up😂

I'd love a narrowboat holiday but someone told me once that spiders are attracted to them. Can you advise honestly if this can be a problem, as I'm rather embarrassed to say I'm very arachnophobic, so it would turn a holiday into a horror for me if so.

And another question - are you master minimalists, and do you love this, or sometimes wish you had space for more 'stuff'? (Sorry if someone's asked already.)

@BarelyFunctioning

I'd love a narrowboat holiday but someone told me once that spiders are attracted to them. Can you advise honestly if this can be a problem, as I'm rather embarrassed to say I'm very arachnophobic, so it would turn a holiday into a horror for me if so.

It definitely can be a problem, we do get quite a few spiders. But we have a spray that repels them and keep the boat as clean as possible which means we don’t get a huge amount anymore. And we aren’t very minimalist at all, we have lots of stuff but we have lots of inbuilt storage too.