The perks and perils of living on a boat
Living on a small boat means that you cannot take some things for granted. All your consumables, such as firewood, water and fuel need to be managed.
Lindsey, Joel and James, all long-term boat dwellers, share the things they love about boating, and the skills that have to be learned.
[Lindsay] I assist charities in their websites, making them more of a fundraising tool, so all online based, and it means I can be anywhere. It's my choice when I work, who I work for and how I work. It's all telephone. I've got a telephone! I don't need to be in a permanent place.
[James] Lighting a fire and getting my boat warm is part of the pleasure. Part of the reason why I choose to live on the boat is that I have a real fire. And I like to burn wood in my fire.There is nothing quite like waking up in the morning and finding that there are still embers going, and all you have to do is to put a bit more wood on.
[Lindsay] I've got a water tank at the front of my boat, so we use the facilities that are on the towpath, and this is all paid for as part of our license. So I have a fully-functioning toilet. I then have to go to a pump-out station, which again is provided along the towpath.
[James] There are a few people I know who have never fallen in, which I find very hard to believe. But if you drink, and live on a boat, it is sort of inevitable that at some point you will fall in! And one of the things that I say to people that are new on their boat is that it's a good idea to dive in in the summertime and have a little swim in the canal, and then work out how to climb out onto your boat. Because you don't want to be working that you when it's ice and freezing and things like that.
[Joel] I don't like being cluttered. And I have been, this boat has been cluttered before. Because I've always been a hoarder. I think that's one thing boating has taught me, actually - you can't be.
[Lindsay] I have a shower, but that is pumped out into the canal. So I have become, as a lot of boaters have, very aware of the products that we use, because it is going straight into the water.
[Joel] For me, this is a richer way of living than I've ever lived before, even though it is far simpler. When you have to be aware of the fact that your water is going to run out, and when you have to be aware that your gas and your diesel are not infinite, you have to put a little more effort into managing those things. But something about that effort makes you appreciate all those little things so much more. Things that you once took for granted, you learn to appreciate. That's one of the things I love about boating.
[James] You get rocked to sleep at night, and you get rocked awake in the morning. That particularly is attractive to me. I've never had a bad night's sleep.
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