People who live in Riverside barges, what is it like?

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angels-and-insects@reddit

Several of my friends lived on narrowboats so this is secondhand experience. First question: how tall are you? Check you can both stand upright everywhere.

Second: are you both physically well? You need to be able to lay fires and carry out the ash, carry the toilet container to the emptying point, etc.

Those two things were what ruled it out for us as accommodation. But hanging out there a lot: * SO beautiful! (I guess that depends on the mooring) * Really warm in winter (once the fire is lit! ) * Watch out for damp and mould * Not ideal with a toddler * Amazing community * You really do need to downsize your stuff

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hazylemons@reddit (OP)

I'm not tall, but SO is. Good shout-- I'll check if I ever get to the next stage from "musing about it semi-seriously".

Tasks like "laying out the fire and carrying out the ash" and "carry the toilet container" are so foreign to me! I wonder if becoming a tenant in a narrowboat comes with a manual...

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saludpesetasamor@reddit

There’s a subreddit for that! I think it’s r/narrowboats. You can glean LOADS of info there. I always wanted to live on one and it’s not really accessible for me anymore due to my health, but I love reading all about it.

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hazylemons@reddit (OP)

Ahhh of course! There's a subreddit for everything :D thanks for the call out!

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saludpesetasamor@reddit

You’re welcome! Enjoy :)

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decentlyfair@reddit

We live on a river in a wide beam boat. It has been about 6 months (so winter). We have central heating and a wood burner. Heating comes on before we get up so all nice and warm and then have the fire in throughout the day. We have all mod cons apart from tumble drier.

Cost of wood is quite a lot in the winter. As we are residential we have to pay council tax and obviously mooring fees and of course river licence. Summer will be a lot cheaper as we can use solar panels and won’t have to heat the boat.

Our second bedroom has a single bed and is also set up as an office.

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Bec21-21@reddit

My friend lived on a houseboat in Bristol. On a sunny day it was lovely to sit out and watch the world go by. Her boat never moved.

The downside: it was cold. In the winter it could be really cold - it was heated by a wood burning stove.

At night mostly Friday and Saturday night drunk people would jump on the boat, sometimes they would try to get inside. That I guess was because the boat was near the city center/bars so not so much of an issue if your boat was somewhere less rowdy. It could be frightening as a single woman to be woken by drunkards clambering over your home.

The rent was really low, which is why my friend stayed there for 2 years. In the end she moved because it was too cold and she was fed up of the drunk people.

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ChateauLaFeet@reddit

The cold I could work out but the drunk people sounds awful and dangerous

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Dependent_One6034@reddit

If you have 2 people it's much easier, but you can rock those boats like a seesaw if you have 2 people on the inside on different walls, get the boat rocking, anyone stood ontop will likely fall if drunk.

Funny? Maybe, maybe a tad dangerous. But don't stand on the roof of my house.

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smellyfeet25@reddit

YES I AGREE

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lemonherring@reddit

WHAT?

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PM-me-your-cuppa-tea@reddit

I've always had an urge to climb on a narrowboat. Obviously never have as it's the same urge that calls at me to jump in the canal.

Never occurred to me that people would frequently follow said urge.

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Ochib@reddit

The urge to jump in the canal is similar to the “call of the void”

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hazylemons@reddit (OP)

That's interesting-- I wonder what sort of tasks you have to be mindful of when living in (a rented) one? I'm also curious how it is to basically not have windows, except when you look up.

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Bec21-21@reddit

It had windows, all along both sides. I don’t remember the windows being out of the ordinary.

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Dependent_One6034@reddit

Friend of mine has one, Spent about 10-15grand on the boat and doing it up, Think he pays 2grand a year ontop of that for insurances and such.

What I do know, Is it doesn't count as a fixed abode, So you would need to have your mail, especially important mail, sent to a family or friends house. You may also have to use their address if opening a bank or things like that.

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ben_jamin_h@reddit

My friend lived on one in London near Kew Gardens, on the tidal bit of the river.

Biggest downside I saw was that for a couple of hours, twice a day, the boat would effectively be beached and the whole thing would wonk over to one side.

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phead@reddit

I remember someone tieing up their GRP gin palace onto the bank along from Kew bridge, didn’t quite account for the tide, it was on its side being flooding as the tide returned. An expensive mistake.

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phead@reddit

It’s a very romanticised subject, truth is you are living in a steel box. Stupid hot in summer, freezing in winter unless you pay a fortune to heat it. The rest of the boat will likely be wood, needing near constant maintenance as it’s in a permanent state of decay.

For the canals large areas, like the BCN, are basically off limits due to it being unsafe to stay there, that even applies near some towns as the canal is the premium place for junkies to shoot up. Your neighbours are likely not much better, many people on the canal are there as they cannot exist elsewhere in society. The smell of dope follows large boat gathering, they are getting stoned from early morning till night.

Are there good parts, yes, but don’t believe everything you read/see.

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No_Medium_648@reddit

If you have kids, they may grow up to resent the lack of space, especially teenagers. The one I grew up in had a lot of condensation from the metal bottom being in cold water. Water would literally drip constantly into my bedding. On the other hand there was a lot of freedom to play, though if you're permanently moored they will lose that too. My mom still lives on it with her cat and is perfectly happy.

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No_Medium_648@reddit

Oh, I'm sorry, you asked about rivers. I lived on the canal.

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hazylemons@reddit (OP)

You know what, I might not know the difference!

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stickypoodle@reddit

Wolf recommend reading Jo Bell’s book ‘Boaters’ - sort of an autobiography of her life becoming a boater (narrow boats), it’s not massively insightful to the actual day to day but gives a good glimpse of life on a boat and has chapters documenting her time on canals, rivers, mooring for years vs travelling, and it’s a pleasant read all round. Very much makes me want to do it myself!

Plenty of boaters have YouTube channels documenting the more day to day life - these show the less rose-tinted side of things and are super educational

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PurchaseCharming4269@reddit

My friend has one nice in summer but absolutely freezing in winter. Not for me.

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Kaylee__Frye@reddit

It seemed super attractive but I read you need to take them to dry dock every few years for upkeep and that seemed like a money sink to me.

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Careless_Soup_109@reddit

I live near a bunch of boaty mcboatfaces, and one sells hot drinks from her boat, setting up a few chairs on grassy bit by the towpath.

Sometimes I'd like to do the same kind of thing.

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beeurd@reddit

I'd have a look for YouTubers who vlog about their life on the canal. I don't recall the channel names, but there are a few.

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regisgod@reddit

Lived on a boat for 7 years now, its fucking great. We bought a traditional narrowboat at first and then bought a 10foot wide widebeam as our second boat so we have plenty of room.

Continuously cruised around London for a few years then we moved up north and got a permanent mooring in Lancashire.

Biggest pros: low-ish cost of living. No council tax, no landlords, no electricity bills as we have a lovely solar set up. Waking up and seeing ducks outside. We've met lots of other boaters who are lovely, the community is great. Its a fucking great lifestyle, love being so in sync with nature. Homeowners outright which is nice.

Biggest cons: It can be cold in winter if you dont have the fire on, so we spend a bit on coal and logs in the winter but when the fires on, it can be very toasty. We cook dinner on it sometimes too. Limited electricity in the winter, but we charge our batteries with the engine and a generator. Hotspotting from our phones is a pain when I have to transfer large files. Maintenance and upkeep costs, BSS (compulsory safety certificate every 5 years), our windows leak a bit in heavy rain. No fridge because theyre power hungry, you can get 12v ones but we just havent got round to it. You have to top up the water tank every couple of months. Post can be problematic but we have a postbox on our mooring.

Overall, we love it. Dont see us moving into a house any time soon. Sure it has limitations, but you learn to work around them. Its definitely a lifestyle you have to embrace but its very rewarding.

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hazylemons@reddit (OP)

Do you have a permanent mooring? What about waste-- how do you dispose of it (both household and black water)? Are permanent moorings connected to a power line?

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regisgod@reddit

Yes we do, we just pay a bit of money to farm whose fields back on to the canal, so we get some sheep to look at too. Grey water just goes into the drink (we use eco-washing up liquid and shampoo etc). Household waste, just gotta be a bit creative with finding some bins, my gym has a big wheelie bin out back so thats my go-to, or just local council litter bins. Some moorings have power, ours doesnt. Dont really need it to be honest, we have 4x 165w solar panels. We have an inverter to step up to 240v the only thing that needs it is my computer and Im gonna convert that to run on 12v DC soon anyway, and charging stuff like power tools, Bluetooth speaker, batteries. Occasionally ill plug my guitar amp in. You can get usb chargeable versions of just about anything these days.

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Darkgreenbirdofprey@reddit

I think you mean canal boats.

They are all different. I've had issues with insulation, leaks and heating. But when you rent, you're not tied to it so if you do come across issues, you just move on.

You may struggle with paying taxes and having a home address for your correspondence. Yes you can dodge these pretty easily and you just won't have a bank account, ability to borrow and travel.

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hazylemons@reddit (OP)

Oh, you're right to point out the address-- what did you do about that? Would you still need to "apply" to utilities such as electricity?

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Schmicarus@reddit

Cruising The Cut

Is a youtube channel that's not trying to glamorise or sell you anything but honest, broad insights into all things narrowboat. Including buying one, upkeep, what to look for, expected costs etc etc etc.

I have no interest in buying a narrowboat but still found his channel very watchable

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CeaselessWatcher00@reddit

You get massive spiders on them apparently. Someone who lived on a canal boat told me this years ago and put me off ever setting foot in one.

(My dream home would be in a place with either no spiders, or just little ones under 10p size 😂😂)

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zolo9@reddit

Under 5p size, thank you very much!

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Miss_Type@reddit

A friend of mine lives on a barge with his wife and toddler. It's really cosy inside, not cold or wet at all. They spent a good six months stripping out the insides and refitting everything before they moved in, so they have configured everything how they want it. They can use the diesel engine to have heating on, and also have a log burner. Whenever I visit, it's usually quite warm inside, but I know on winter mornings it's been really cold. Like hardly warmer than being in a tent. When his wife was pregnant, my friend got up extra early to put the heating on in the morning. They also have an allotment so they can indulge the gardening urges we all seem to develop in our 30s :D

They have a permanent mooring in a basin, but spend holidays travelling. You don't get anywhere fast, but they can explore around the local area, or if they spend longer on holiday, they can travel a bit further afield.

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Tilika@reddit

Is his name Jack by any chance?

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Miss_Type@reddit

Nope. I assume lots of people do similar things on houseboats though :-)

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Miss_Type@reddit

Internet - fine. They can both work from home, and stream TV etc no problems.

Leaking - shouldn't happen if the barge is shipshape! There are obviously lots of things to be aware of that you don't need to worry about in a flat, like knowing how to fix basic problems with the generator.

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ShortFlamingo3409@reddit

I looked into a barge in the mid 90s. 100 foot started at £100,000 plus mooring fees (which were very sort after and expensive around here) and you had to have it out of the water every year or two for upkeep and safety certificates. Mortgages were almost nonexistent as the big lenders wouldn't do them so it was specialist companies at a large premium. Obviously things could have changed (and probably have).

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nogoodnamezavailable@reddit

I'm keen on this idea too.. I hear there is no council tax?

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Guilty-Jellyfish-855@reddit

There are mooring fees that can be quite steep depending on where you want to be located. Otherwise you have to move the boat every 2 weeks to a new location which some people do. It can be a fun way to explore new areas but it's a bit like finding a parking spot in a busy area - you might have to go quite a distance to find one.

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SubjectAd9940@reddit

Got experience with owning a narrowboat, but used for holidays rather than full time living. We moved around the system (canals) rather than a permanent mooring, though we had a Marina berth as a base.

Narrow boats are narrow, less than 2m wide, usually ok height wise ( I am 6ft) but you end up walking sideways up and down the boat. You will have limited storage so have to think small. Depending on the type of mooring you have, you might have to move the boat every couple of weeks to fill up the water tank and empty the toilet holding tank, fill up with diesel etc.

On the plus side it is a great way of living, we had central heating and a solid stove so were always warm. Remember one week we were in Milton Keynes , snow outside, we had shorts and t-shirts on inside the boat ( lots of layers had to go on walk the dog!)

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