Advice about living on a canal boat

[Anna B]

Hi

 

I'm thinking about selling my house and living on a narrow boat, but I want to stay in Sheffield.

 

Has anyone any advice about buying and living on a narow boat, and moorings available etc.

 

Thanks,

 

Fiona

 

Any chance of sharing a boat to learn the ins and outs before you commit to buying one?

[jimmy62alan]

Thats a good point Anne, I've got a friend and her sister has a share in a boat on a boat in stoke on trent and they regullarly get unexpected bills. Buying a boat could be share with family or friends to keep the costs down.

You can also recycle waste oil for the fuel that would take down the fuel cost to a lower level. I must state please research the the waste oil recycling before you attempt this as its not a simple case of getting it filtered threw sock lol.

ALAN

[tzijlstra]

My parents own a houseboat in the Netherlands (and I got very close to buying and living on one as well). People that are genuine about living on a houseboat need to consider a whole raft of factors:

 

If it is a sailing houseboat (ie. one that moves under its own 'steam') be prepared to have the engine and associated parts checked every year.

 

In ideal conditions you need to put a coat of anti-fouling on the bottom of the ship at least every three years better every two - you probably need to get the ship out for a good clean every year. Think about the cost and practicalities: Can you afford to not live on the boat for that period of time?

 

A boat is in the water, obvious, not so obvious is that the water cools the whole ship down - heating can be very expensive, particularly during a cold spell. It is great to just heat using a wood-burner (an AGA for example) - but again, think of the practicalities, that fire needs feeding regularly and firewood isn't cheap. If it is a sailing boat you can't attach to mains-gas, although you could use gas-bottles - using gas-bottles for heating is expensive. Using oil-burners requires an infrastructure and refuelling, again, this can be expensive (although is probably the cheapest and most hassle-free option).

 

Most permanent moorings come with running water, is the boat you are considering suitable to receive this? Can you live with (likely) low water-pressure?

 

Inside a steel-hull your 3G/4G signal is going to suck. There are ways to fix this, but it isn't cheap.

 

Insurance can be very expensive.

 

Moorings are very expensive, particularly the nice ones!

 

In short: living on a houseboat sounds like it is a lot cheaper than living on the land, in actual fact it has higher running costs - you need to make sure you can cover those costs or it can all end in tears rather quickly.