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How long before you jumped in...


snappyfish

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Not in the canal :)

 

I'm sat here watching canal videos, following various people. Reading forums and looking at boats for sale just thinking what a lovely way it must be to live.

 

What I wonder is how long did it take you live aboards to finally jump into it?

 

 

 

 

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Everyone's path into boating is a different story really.

I don't live aboard, I don't even have my own boat, but I've done quite a bit of boating so far as crew on other people's boats.

 

There was very little thinking about it before my induction, I hadn't considered canal boating. One day a few years ago my brother asked me if I could join him to assist with moving his boat from the marina to a boatyard to have some work done on it. He and his wife had bought it a few months earlier and she had other plans for that day, so I spent two or three hours in his car, two hours boating on a cold but sunny day, and another two or three hours coming home. That was fun, I thought, then I occasionally got invited again on weekend trips and it went on from there; I was hooked.

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We were going on holiday to the Broads and Chris said, shall we live on a boat? We got the estate agent in on the Friday, went away Ob the Saturday and had the house sold that week. Came back and promptly started looking for a boat, 3 months later we moved aboard,that was over 15 years ago, now on our 2nd boat

Phil

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We were going on holiday to the Broads and Chris said, shall we live on a boat? We got the estate agent in on the Friday, went away Ob the Saturday and had the house sold that week. Came back and promptly started looking for a boat, 3 months later we moved aboard,that was over 15 years ago, now on our 2nd boat

Phil

15 Years a liveaboard, well done!

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We don't liveaboard yet but are planning to in the near future.

 

Our route into boating was a series of holidays on the Norfolk Broads which we loved. On the back of this we went to place an order for a brand new river boat. On the way to place the order in Ely we dropped by another marina having an open day and ended up falling in love with a completely different style of boat which we bought instead. We still have that boat going on for 9 years later.

 

It will be a sad day when we have to sell Naughty-Cal, we have grown very fond of her over the years and have had some great times aboard but she just isn't big enough to live in so after next summers big trip she will sadly most probably be going for sale.

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Rash and speedy, i was offered a job in a area i didn't want to buy a house.

From thinking about a narrowboat, purchase, and moving it by road through time constraints i was in and sorted in just over a fortnight.

I'd never been on a narrowboat before, very fortuitious having wise and savvy neighbours in next moorings on marina after purchase.

Sometimes you can just over think things.

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Dreamed about for three years, read a lot, got lucky and won some money, bought my boat.

 

Didn't plan to live aboard for a few more years but marriage break up bought the plans forward, which wasn't a bad thing.

 

Living aboard for 14 months now and absolutely loving it, I do miss broadband though, my Xbox sits gathering dust all winter, summer sun and solar brings it out of retirement.

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We moved onboard our first boat long before tinternet and this or any other forum existed. Now living aboard our ninth boat. Made our minds up to do it within a few seconds of looking on a boat on the A and C at Pollington whilst running the pub there in 89. We have owned houses along the way in Cornwall for holidays but binned the last one nine years ago and nooooo regrets. Just one thing........could I just ask how to keep warm in the winter? laugh.png

 

Tim

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We moved onboard our first boat long before tinternet and this or any other forum existed. Now living aboard our ninth boat. Made our minds up to do it within a few seconds of looking on a boat on the A and C at Pollington whilst running the pub there in 89. We have owned houses along the way in Cornwall for holidays but binned the last one nine years ago and nooooo regrets. Just one thing........could I just ask how to keep warm in the winter? laugh.png

 

Tim

 

If you have wall to wall carpet on your boat, you could set that on fire, then it will be warm in no time at all, but be careful as many carpets give off toxic fumes when they burn.

 

I've heard also of boaters that are using multi fuel stoves, they are easier to control than a burning carpet, I've been told wink.png

 

Peter.

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I didn't get much of a choice.... I was less than 48 hours old when I started life on a boat (Dec 1975).

 

after moving off the boats in the mid 80's it took me 30 years before I had my own boat (not liveaboard due to various commitments)

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I didn't get much of a choice.... I was less than 48 hours old when I started life on a boat (Dec 1975).

 

after moving off the boats in the mid 80's it took me 30 years before I had my own boat (not liveaboard due to various commitments)

 

Myself I started boating (barging) a few years before you were born, but was already quite a bit older than 48 hours, and have never left the boats, never lived in a house or apartment since my first barge, and don't see that happening in the near futur either.

 

Peter.

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It will be a sad day when we have to sell Naughty-Cal, we have grown very fond of her over the years and have had some great times aboard but she just isn't big enough to live in so after next summers big trip she will sadly most probably be going for sale.

 

Interesting news - I'm curious what sort of boat you have in mind for a liveaboard. Will you be joining the narrowboaters or looking for something bigger and/or more seaworthy?

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Interesting news - I'm curious what sort of boat you have in mind for a liveaboard. Will you be joining the narrowboaters or looking for something bigger and/or more seaworthy?

It will still be plastic.

 

We are looking at Broads cruisers which we can refit and turn into a luxury liveaboard.

 

A bit of a change from what we have have at the moment!

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Way back in the mid 80s I got fed up paying big rents for horrible bed-sits. Always been interested in boats so bought a brand new Springer Water Bug and lived on it for nearly 3 years. Got married and bought a house, but when I got un-married I couldnt wait to get back on the water.

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Following a divorce I ran away to NZ for 6 months, came back skint and unable to buy anywhere to live or even rent a decent flat.

Sat in a car park having a brew and to this day I don't know where the idea came from but I thought "buy a narrowboat", 6 months later I stepped on the back of MY boat ( no idea about anything narrowboat at all)

13 years later still loving it

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I mithered this lot on here for about a year before we got us boat, i live on it on me own.

 

The help and knowledge this forum gave me definitely saved us a fortune.

 

So many peolple i now know of have suddenly found out the hard way life on a bad boat bought spontaniously is a bad bad move.

 

I would recomend at least a year on a forum asking a shoot load of questions before paying house type money for a boat full of trouble.

 

This is so true.

 

All the best.

 

Dont rush to buy a boat in summer it costs more, best to buy end of summer when they dont want to splash out on Moorings ect...

 

Always get a basic hull survey.

 

Look at local available moorings because if they are rare it can be hard to 'really move your boat in winter with high winds'

 

Just ask a load of questions and read other people's.

 

 

 

God knows i did ott.

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We'd pondered being more nomadic for a years but never really had a plan. Following an unexpected conversation with a chap in a field at the summer solstice, we thought a narrowboat might be a good idea. We mulled it for a few months. Then decided to hire one for a weekend, neither of us ever having set foot on a boat before. We enjoyed that and a few months later, at new year, we bought a boat. We still think we're slightly mad but it's also the best thing we've ever done :)

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For me I started asking questions on here then around 2 weeks later went looking at boats and within a few days saw a 7th boat that said "yes" to me and a fortnight later, after survey and blacking, was mine. Been aboard for 4 years next month. I have no regrets and adapted the boat to suit me.

I'm marina based but don't really get time to cruise as working. I'll have to book myself time off.

 

Jamescheers.gif

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Not in the canal smile.png

 

I'm sat here watching canal videos, following various people. Reading forums and looking at boats for sale just thinking what a lovely way it must be to live.

 

What I wonder is how long did it take you live aboards to finally jump into it?

 

 

 

 

 

I think if we had gone straight from full time living in a house to full time living on a boat it wouldn't have worked, but our approach has been to gradually increase the length of time we spend on the boat which is now about a third of the year (and not just the summer months). As a result we now have the confidence to know we can live on the canals permanently, and it's just a matter of deciding when we've had enough of the working life.

 

It's interesting that after one of our long stints on the boat I used to find myself looking forward to going home, but a key moment was realising there wasn't actually much about house living I would miss these days. Some folk seem to get to this point a lot quicker.

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I still enjoy going round the other half's house, its nice to walk in to a warm house and be able to get a hot shower and warm bed with minimum work, yes I know these are easily achievable on the boat, but when you have been away from the boat for 24 hours you need to put a little effort in first...

 

Still wouldn't swap it though!

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We do not live aboard, though this year we have spent longer than ever before on Trojan (probably about 2 months if we could be bothered to tot it up.) We never meant to buy a boat, not really.

When first married, we used to have rather odd summer holidays. Once, we drove down to Eastbourne, tossed a coin, if it was heads we would follow the coastline Eastwards, but it landed tails so we went West. We got as far as Bude in N. Cornwall. A couple of times, we got railway passes and travelled to various parts of France (I taught French for a living). So, in 1994 we decided to try hiring a plastic cruiser on the Canal du Nivernais in central France. Over the two weeks, we hit almost everything and everybody that we could have hit, had a few near-divorces and arrived home in a state of nervous exhaustion.

Within a couple of weeks we started wondering if we'd enjoy hiring on the U.K. canals, which we duly did for the next three years (Grand Union, Kennet & Avon, Middle Level & Nene). One autumn evening in 1997 we had consumed most of the contents of a wine box and agreed that we would like to buy a boat. The following morning, over coffee and aspirins, we agreed that we would indeed like to pursue the idea. After a couple of months' searching we bought a second-hand 39-footer from Whilton Marina. A few years later we had a new one built (whose length shot up to 40 feet), then in 2006 Mel Davis built Trojan for us ( even longer - a whole 45 feet) and we are still enjoying her.

I am not sure that we shall ever live full-time on board any boat; apart from anything else, we would need to tow a butty to accommodate my record collection and Mrs. Athy's shoes.

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