Living on a boat

[Mattsplat]

I lived for 2 years in a fibreglass 'American houseboat'.

It seemed like a romantic idea at the time, permanently moored in a little harbour.

It was a sauna in the summer, freezing in the winter, the boat rocked quite violently every time another vessel passed the harbour, I often ran out of water mid shower, limited space and stuff got damp.

I had moved in with the option of purchasing it but the novelty soon wore off.

[kitcrazy]

ive had a few boats only small river cruisers upto 30ft but we love it.and will be buying a liveaboard in a few years time.its not as cheap to live on the river as you think and getting a good  residential mooring is the hard part especially the thames.there is a legal way around the river licence by continuous cruising which a alot of people do.you cant beat that sort of life go for it.
just make sure you get a full survey because re plating a narrowboat is not cheap.

[taylor]

I lived on the independence of the seas for a couple of weeks, was very nice plenty of space, :rollin

[Dead Eye]

Haha, I've been on that ship as well!

This year it's the Adventure of the Seas... need to try out a few before committing to buy

[chaz]

never had a boat but a friend who who did said " a boat is a hole in the water where you put all your money?"

[ChristoT]

Boats are scary expensive. And if you skimp on maintenance, it risks sinking!  :eek

[chris.biker]

I must be strange but I have no interest in even a narrow boating holiday, but I really like the idea of building one from scratch, starting with a delivery of sheet steel and finishing with the last tin of paint. But there is not enough time in life for that one. But I might be interested in welding on a few patches should you ever find your standing in your home with wet feet Punkstig.

[red98]

I work in hemel hempstead on a friday.nextdoor to aspley mill and the grand union canal, not far from you stiggy......lots of canal boats there at the moment, great way to live and good for you daughter too.........go for it stiggy   

[Grandma]

One of my bikey neighbour's has done this, he also has 4 dogs works for him something he always wanted to do. Not sure how he coped in the recent floods though as on the Medway!

[midden]

I must be strange but I have no interest in even a narrow boating holiday, but I really like the idea of building one from scratch, starting with a delivery of sheet steel and finishing with the last tin of paint. But there is not enough time in life for that one. But I might be interested in welding on a few patches should you ever find your standing in your home with wet feet Punkstig.

Yes you are strange
Many years ago I worked with a bloke who was building a wooden one in his back garden.  Unfortunately he died before he could finish and enjoy.


Another plus side, you'll never starve, just throw a trap over the side with some meat in and live on the crayfish....yum

[midden]

One of my bikey neighbour's has done this, he also has 4 dogs works for him something he always wanted to do. Not sure how he coped in the recent floods though as on the Medway!

Now there's inflation, Noah only allowed animals to come aboard in two's

[Skippernick]

[quote author=chris.biker link=topic=12399.msg138744#msg138744 date=1396469286]
I must be strange but I have no interest in even a narrow boating holiday, but I really like the idea of building one from scratch, starting with a delivery of sheet steel and finishing with the last tin of paint. But there is not enough time in life for that one. But I might be interested in welding on a few patches should you ever find your standing in your home with wet feet Punkstig.

Yes you are strange
Many years ago I worked with a bloke who was building a wooden one in his back garden.  Unfortunately he died before he could finish and enjoy.


Another plus side, you'll never starve, just throw a trap over the side with some meat in and live on the crayfish....yum
[/quote]


Christ don't eat anything out of the cut its full leptospirosis from rat piss. :eek

[Oldgit]

buy a used Submarine, no mooring fees, and peeps never know where you'll pop up  :pc

[midden]

People live in old tug boats on the Medway. They are solid

[caretaker]

some of them can look really nice

[ogri48]

fair play to you mate. i wish you all the best, and hope it works out. sounds like its the right time of your life to do it too. apparently, the japanese have the same word for "problem", as they do "opportunity", i think thats a brilliant philosophy.

[Arfa]

The big problem is your money is just disappearing in a depreciating boat, costing you more to maintain, run and keep up with fees.
As an alternative to buying property, it fails. In 10 years time, you will have spent a pile and have nowt worth much. A house will/should have earnt a tidy amount of equity in same time.
In your position, I'd be looking at buying somewhere up North and renting it out. Stills pays, even if still renting down here. Give it 5-10years, cash in equity for deposit for another place to rent. Rinse repeat.

Edit: re-reading that, it seems a bit condescending. I guess, what I'm trying to say is, don't go down this route simply thinking it'll be a cheaper alternative to buying. it won't be. You should go down this route because you really want the living on a boat lifestyle, regardless of financial sense.

[Skippernick]

The big problem is your money is just disappearing in a depreciating boat, costing you more to maintain, run and keep up with fees.
As an alternative to buying property, it fails. In 10 years time, you will have spent a pile and have nowt worth much. A house will/should have earnt a tidy amount of equity in same time.
In your position, I'd be looking at buying somewhere up North and renting it out. Stills pays, even if still renting down here. Give it 5-10years, cash in equity for deposit for another place to rent. Rinse repeat.

Edit: re-reading that, it seems a bit condescending. I guess, what I'm trying to say is, don't go down this route simply thinking it'll be a cheaper alternative to buying. it won't be. You should go down this route because you really want the living on a boat lifestyle, regardless of financial sense.

A lot of good talk there, boats don't appreciate unfortunately.

[Punkstig]

Haha, that submarine one is pure comedy!

I'm intrigued arfa - please give me some advice on how I get to buy property up north when my current living costs are higher than my income?
Obviously I don't have enough savings for a deposit to get a mortgage.
Bearing in mind my job, and daughter are here so moving up north isn't an option either!

[midden]

Haha, that submarine one is pure comedy!

I'm intrigued arfa - please give me some advice on how I get to buy property up north when my current living costs are higher than my income?
Obviously I don't have enough savings for a deposit to get a mortgage.
Bearing in mind my job, and daughter are here so moving up north isn't an option either!

The train of thought is you use mortgage allowance to buy house up north where prices are dirt cheap still. Not to move there but to rent thus not costing you a penny and giving you hopefully a monthly income while waiting for property to rise in value.


A couple of problems there


1. As you say your outgoings are more than your income so getting mortgage could be hard
      Although if going the not so straight way your rent here wouldn't come in to the calculation since in theory you'd be moving to the property


2. if doing it the legit way you would have to go for a buy to let mortgage and even if you could get the 100% mortgage buy to lets aren't available to first time buyers. Or so I am told.