Uncharted Waters
I started my new job this week. Being that we are four weeks into term, and I have a) never worked as a librarian before and b) never worked in the UK before, I have I think a healthy level of nerves and a good deal of excitement as well. I am also anticipating the fatigue of returning to full-time work, both as someone who has been technically unemployed now for seven weeks and hasn’t worked a five-day week for almost 18 months.
Living Afloat
I still haven’t written about houseboat living yet either! So here are some early thoughts after a month of solidly living afloat, organised in the form of a PMI chart (Shout out to Ken – my Y2 and Y5 teacher – for this expertise) for your reading pleasure.
| Les avantages (Positive) | Les inconvenients (Minus) | Interessant (Interesting) |
| Waking up with mother duck and her seven ducklings gliding along outside my bedroom window Being surrounded by nature, wildlife and green space and effectively “choosing” your backyard with an easy walking or biking trail seconds from your door Having a log burner onboard is cosy af Does not take long to clean a narrowboat Being able to take your house with you, duh! Simple living – everything feels stripped back, calm existence – we minimise our time on screens, eat well, play games and read books (as well as enjoying BBC iPlayer offerings) So much pleasure to be gained from cooking for my person! We have space to host people overnight, wahoo! | Elsan disposal… it’s um, unpleasant. Diesel-powered engine is ☹! No fixed address as a “continuous cruiser” Showers need to be short, sharp and as efficient as possible to conserve water, and unless the engine has just been on, water comes out cold. Semi-frequent admin tasks that just aren’t a thing in a regular home connected to mains (charging battery by running engine to have enough electricity, filling water tank, emptying toilet, maintaining the paint, scraping off bird poo from boat exterior!!) | Gas-powered oven does not need to be pre-heated! Mind blown. Boat needs to “pee” daily (with the help of a bilge pump, water is pumped out through a hole on each side of the front) Solar panels power the main battery which is topped up by the diesel engine when necessary Onboard laundry is done in a twin tub, straight out of the seventies – this is time consuming! Storage is limited, so we need to use our space efficiently |
It’s Not All Continuous Cruising
I can safely say that boat life is absolutely not for everyone, but I think my wife and I are well-suited, and we could be really happy here on the canals for the next wee while.
Winter approaches – a much quieter time on the canals, and one that comes with its own challenges and considerations. I am in no rush to get there, and we have our fingers and toes crossed we can get a mooring with good facilities to keep us toasty and take much of the mental load out of our boat life upkeep.
Thank you so much for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed it! I genuinely want to know – have you ever lived on a houseboat? Would you? After reading this, do you think you could?
