Living on a Narrow Boat

Being practical, what about registering with a GP and dentist?

Yes, I agree about the warmth in winter bit. A friend of mine had to give up living on a boat because he was finding the winters too hard. I live in a canal village so, if you start travelling along the Trent/Mersey canal please contact me. I do know of someone else that bought a boat but, when they decided they wanted to live on land again couldn't do so because house prices had shot up and their boat was still worth the same. It's a great idea though, so I do hope you do it. Good luck!

We had NBs for years and spent many a happy time on them. I would sell up and buy another to live on now if only DH had the same enthusiasm. I'd say go for it with a few provisos:

1 Get a professional to check out any boat you consider buying. You don't want to be landed (geddit?) with big bills for unexpected repairs. It is costly to have a NB taken out of the water.

2 Make sure you can keep it warm in the winter. What sort of heating system does it have? Is the cabin sufficiently insulated?

3 It'll be fun travelling around the canal system but you will need a home base if, for instance, you need medical attention. Work out where that will be and what it will cost you. Some marinas are quite expensive. If you have a car, you'll also need somewhere to leave that.

4 Practice managing locks single-handed - you may have to. It's not easy to steer a NB into a lock and operate the gates at the same time.

I am very envious - I hope it all works out brilliantly for you.
Best of luck!

A friend and her husband lived in a narrow boat on the Kennet and Avon canal for several years before they both retired. My friend didn't want to live in a house again, but did so because her husband wanted to be near his relatives. She still hankers after a life afloat.

Janeainsworth I have bought a subscription to Canal Boat magazine...case of wine came with that...hahaha. I have a friend with a narrow boat and he has let me use it as destress getaway occasionally. He wouldn't let me take it out on my own but with him there I have taken the helm and I worked all the locks.

Go for it! I did it at the other end of my adult life, moving onto a boat at 18, before it was a 'normal' thing to do, and didn't live in a house again for nearly 20 years. My children knew no other life until they were in their mid teens and often talk about what a wonderful childhood they had. Over those years we had friends of all ages who lived aboard and if it eventually became too much for them they managed to move back onto dry land one way or another.
It's definitely a much more expensive lifestyle choice than it used to be though - if it wasn't, I think that both DH and I would move back onto a narrowboat right now ( if we could afford to buy one too, that is ?)

I would do it in a heartbeat if I didn't have such dodgy knees.

We live between two river systems and had a smallish cabin cruiser for ten years when our children were school age. We made friends with people who lived on narrow boats and I really envied their life style although you sometimes get saddled with the 'River Gipsy' label.

Five years ago some good friends of ours sold their house and business to live on a large narrow boat. It was lovely. They only moved back into a house when they had to be nearer to aging parents.

We also have friends who live on a Dutch barge. They bought enough land to have their own mooring and rent out some river footage for three more boats.....clever.

So long as you stay fit enough to be able to do the physical work I'd say go for it. There are expenses of course - insurance, river licence, mooring fees, maintenance etc., but that's the same in any walk of life.

No, of course you're not too old!
I'm not sure you need a helmsman's course though to steer a narrowboat through the British canals. You need a radio if you're going on the Thames and obviously if you're taking your narrowboat into coastal waters, but if you're doing that you'd be better off with a different sort of boat.
We hired a narrowboat for a week and the only instruction considered necessary by the company was about an hour being shown how to turn the boat round and work the locks.
For several years after that, we owned a share in a syndicate boat and had some lovely times in most of the English canals.
Narrowboats are very narrow though and can feel a little claustrophobic - I would try it out if I were you, before committing to anything.
Canal Boat magazine is a good source of info, and Terry Darlington's books Narrow Dog to Carcassonne, Narrow Dog to Indian River, and Narrow Dog to Wigan Pier are a good read.

It would be lovely, apart from all that water.

Sounds great to me. A friend lived on one for a couple of years between husbands it was lovely and cosy and perfect for a single.
Your never too old, especially if your fit and have looked into it properly as you obviously have.
Go for it, have fun