Would you sell a house to buy and live on a narrowboat?

[AndItDoesntSeemToMatter]

Just that? Your only property... for a boat life...

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads would that be In Nottingham by any chance?

Nope, even without kids! I have a couple of narrowboat-living friends (they don't have kids) and while it is fun and lovely in summer, winters on a boat sound pretty grim and v. v. cold!

@Toddlerteaplease, about 70 miles! (Huddersfield)

[quote Toddlerteaplease]@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads would that be In Nottingham by any chance?[/quote]
I pictured Castle Marina too!

No way.

Not a chance. Too narrow. I find them claustrophobic.

Only if I had all the skills and money to maintain one. I'd rather live on a caravan.

Definitely too many negatives for me. It's not the romantic idyll it's depicted as.

Time restrictions on when you can run your engine/ generator which means no hot water for showers after 8pm

Expensive private/ permanent mooring, or you need to move every two weeks over winter.

Filling up tank with drinking water

Emptying septic tank, the charges involved, and finding a suitable pump

Cost of diesel; narrow boats aren't the environmentally friendly lifestyle they're made out to be.

Idiots who leave sluices on lock gates open and drain the canal leaving you high and dry.

My in-laws did. They love it. The boat is huge by narrow boat standards, and very warm and comfortable. They have a standard sized bath, washing machine and TV. It's not damp in the least.

Personally I couldn't live on it, but it's much nicer than I imagined.

@Echobelly

Nope, even without kids! I have a couple of narrowboat-living friends (they don't have kids) and while it is fun and lovely in summer, winters on a boat sound pretty grim and v. v. cold!

My in-laws boat is like a sauna. I can't sleep on it the winter because it's too warm.

NO.

My ex lived on one (he was a new age traveller type and even he got fed up of it). Current divorcee mate lives on one and it's awful.

Washing clothes involves a trip to the launderette and back. Drunk people p1ss up the side of the boat. You get up close and personal with your own poo and the toilete cassette needs emptying. Tow paths are pitch black, muddy and unsafe in winter. Anything below the water line inside gets damp. The condensation can be so bad it's like it's raining indoors. There is no soundproofing. No privacy from neighbours and people staring in. Everything needs fixing. The EXPENSE! My mates boat costs more annually in utilities and mooring fees than my house! Boats depreciate in value. Your mooring fees can be hiked at a whim. I could go on. Seriously, I'd rather live in a van.

There's a saying "If it floats, flys or fcks... it's going to be expensive"

Hugh spec Dutch barge maybe if I could have a secluded marina base - vanishingly rare things.

Not one where everything goes mouldy all the time or where you have a right y shower.’

Yeah I would take a cab I preference and this is just me. I couldn’t do either with any other bugger.

No, I also know friends who've done this and it hasn't worked out well. Unless you have a private mooring you're obliged to move frequently and other people living on narrow boats are very much a mixed bag.

My mum did exactly this, sold her home bought a boat. It cost her a fortune in moorings and maintenance. Constantly cold and woke up with a duck in her bedroom one morning.
She sold it for a lot less than she bought it for and is now renting a crappy house in her 60s because she can't get back on the housing ladder.

No, I think they look cramped & depressing

Absolutely not a chance in hell.

Cold, lack of privacy, mooring costs (assuming you can get a decent one in the first place), depreciation, lack of space etc

I can't think of a single positive.

When DS was little one of his friends parents lived on one and we went for a few play dates.

It was fucking depressing. Cramped overall, no space to play, constantly having to keep your eye on the children for safety, cold as hell etc

I had to start making excuses as I just couldn't stand it (neither did DS like it).

The mother kept saying what a wonderful life it was and I thought at the time she was bonkers. Now I wonder if she was just trying to convince herself (it was a concept very much driven by her partner apparently who loved the freedom - but never did the trips to the laundry, supervised his son or cooked in the cramped kitchen ).

Absolutely not. I like high ceilings, large windows, large showers and warmth.

[quote Havilland]This would be the only standard I could live in, boatwise

www.onthemarket.com/details/10779599/[/quote]
Wow !

The owners of that £3m boat will still need to store their shit in a tank on the boat and pump it out regularly.

No thanks.

Good grief no. We rented one for a night and I wanted to cry. Too many tall, messy folk in my family for boat life.

One branch of my family were boatmen (I'm actually the first generation not to have been involved in some way) and I sometimes feel it would be nice to have a boat for sentimental reasons. Then I remember that even they didn't live on them and had a home to go to when they weren't working and put it out of my head again..

A colleagues ex is buying one.
(He will be on his own though as the children are all grown up etc )
Mad idea. Hasn't any experience of boats and overlooking the costs involved I think.
It is cheaper than buying a house, but the maintenance most be huge I would imagine.

My colleague had one built to his own spec from scatch and it was about £70,000. It was really gorgeous inside and he loved boat life. However none of his girlfriends did..

God no. Floating weirdo colonies.