Hello,

Does anyone have plans to, or are maybe looking into, using one of these as a home in England for their retirement?

Been looking into getting one for our "Autumn years" and would like to swap ideas / info on the ins-and-outs.

Berthings, Wintertime, running costs, insurance, wether or not to get a moggie, etc, etc........

Ta.

I looked at this idea prior to moving overseas.

It has a lot of 'plusses' particularly as house prices are not soaring upwards at the moment now (in the past, buying a house was a better option as a narrowboat depreciates and a house appreciates).

You will have to spend out on mooring fees which are not cheap for a good mooring (ie one which is close to a chandlers, outside shower block, laundry facilities, water, toilet emptying etc).

There is a LOT less space on a large narrowboat than even a small bungalow/apartment so you have to be very efficient and tidy. You can't keep large items so may havwe too store some of your things or sell them off - maybe an opportunity to de-clutter.

In the winter it can be freezing, and you have to have an efficient heat source and get used to stoking/making a coal fire every day.

However as a life experience, definitely worth doing for a year or two.

You can get wide beam boats which are more practicable space wise but can only fit on certain waterways/canals.

Buy a narrowboat magazine, google it, find info on liveaboard lifestyles, look on ebay for boats on sale.

A decent boat is going to cost a minimum £60k and up to £160k

I would love to have a go at it.

I love this idea DH has been looking in to living on a yacht, we will have to investigate this option too

thank you for the info

Claire

I don't know anything about it except my husband has a friend whose parents do this, just wanted to say it sounds very interesting.

I have been toying with this idea and here are a couple of pages that I have book-marked for further investigation:

Narrowboats for sale: http://greathaywoodboatsales.co.uk/p...ygroup/16/home

General info regarding canals and waterways in the UK: http://www.canaljunction.com/news/index.htm

I think it's a cool idea if you are in good heath... but if that ceases to become the case, I doubt it's a great way to live out your later years. Plus, ailments brought on by the damp are unlikely to be helped by living on a narrowboat, especially in the British climate.

Had a look around the web on this subject this weekend and following up on a couple of suggestions posted have found out that there's quite a choice on lengths, which varies the mooring cost - which is annual.
You need insurance and also there's a license fee to use the waterways (British Waterways - BW, being the governing body) Other costs are boat maintenance, fuel and heat.
It appears that you can constantly travel the canals with stops permitted for a max of 2 weeks other than your own mooring location. I believe you can simply pull to the side of a canal and simply moor there as you wish. It seems in the Wintertime, moorings are cheaper than usual and that might be a good idea should we want to spend the cold months on board.
The interior width is less than 7' (about 6, I think) and this is the limiting space factor. Hence; "narrowboat" But as mentioned the lengths can vary from around 40' to 70' I think.
Modern ones are more insulated and have central heat as well as the standard pot-belly stove which sounds lovely and cozy.

I'll pop more info down if anyone else is interested as I get into this subject more. For us, the simplicity of the thing and freedom it offers are very attractive and we're planning on doing it in some years time. It'll give a good opportunity to explore England (at our own pace) and introduce the Mrs to the country also. (Planning on keeping the US house for the Mrs to retreat to if it gets too Wintry for her..)

Finally, its hard to get a narrowboat magazine sent to the US, but if you dig thru the web a bit, you'll find a company that does mail them here.

I think part of the attraction would be that it might be hard to move back and then fit into a very settled community - this would give you that bit of a different lifestyle. I would certainly love to hear about what else you find out.

Indeedy.

It'll take a few weeks to undo decades of damage done. That and I've allways suspected a gypsy jumped the garden gate a few generations ago........being a bit of a pikey just fits somehow.

Ooh David Essex eh?

My Dad built his own, it has central heating It cost him about 40k GBP to build from scratch to his own specifications. It can only sleep 4 but for my Dad and his wife, it is perfect. He moors at Crick marina which has excellent facilities. We spent a day on it last year when we visited UK. The boating community seems tight knit, everyone seemed to know everyone and lots of waving and saying hello.

This is where I lived before I emigrated 32 years ago...Great Haywood. They also build them, narrowboats,at Hoo Mill not far from the Gt Haywood Junction. Ahhh sigh happy days.

Saw this feature and thought of this discussion

Property Market: Houseboats and Homes on the Water

Anyone remember "El CID" on TV? Two ex cops used their pension to buy a nice yacht and lived on it in Spain - permanently parked.

Always wondered how practical that was.

I looked into this back in the mid 80's when house prices were going crazy, and I was realizing the first step on the property ladder was a pretty high one. At that time, British Waterways Board were oversubscribed for licences, so it was a waitlist to get one, and then when you got it, it limited you to a maximum number of months you were allowed to live on it - I think it was something like 10.5 months a year, but stand to be corrected on that. I have no idea how they actually policed that restriction though. I went on the waitlist, but had saved up a deposit and bought a flat before my name came up, so I dropped off as I could no longer afford it!

As someone else mentioned there are also restrictions on how long you may be able to use moorings other than your own.

I wonder if the current financial problems are making it easier to get a licence because people can't afford the luxury of owning a boat, or harder because people are buying boats because they can't afford to live in a house!

Good Luck with it - I love the concept of being mobile and totally flexible in our later years. Once the kids leave home I think we're going to RV for a few years, but a boat is certainly an option...