Buying their first boat
Lindsey, Joel and James talk about how they first decided that boat life was for them. For Lindsey and Joel it was a snap decision, but James had a childhood of fun on the water to guide him.
In 2016 it was estimated that more than 10,000 people lived on boats in London alone, and a quarter of the 33,000 boats on Britain's waterways are used as primary residences.
[Joel] I think that boating does attract eccentrics, of which I see myself as one. One day I was cycling from my flat in Watford along the canal, and next to it was a marina with lots of boaters in it. And I went and had a chat with these boaters, and I really liked them and they seemed to like me. And within a week, I'd bought a boat and I've moved there.
[Lindsay] We were basically just sitting down by the River Lea at Springfield Park. Saw these boats going by. Stupidly - but not - I said in front of my little boy, "Oh, I wonder if we could live on a boat?" And that was it, we were off! So three months later we got the boat, and I'm still here. She's a 65ft narrow boat, so the width is seven or eight point nine. She's all open plan, apart from the kitchen and bathroom divide. She's bright orange - she's just been painted - and she's beautiful!
[James] When I was a youngster my mum and dad had a narrowboat, so for those reasons I had no fear about moving onto the canal. And I wanted to. I was living in a council flat which I'd bought, and I sold it in the end and bought the boat. I've been living on the canal for a bit more than ten years now. Usual sort of mid-life crisis...I'm over it now...Let's not talk about it!
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