Admire your tenacity. I've lived in challenging circumstances, having being knee deep in snow with a 30 litre container, off to get water. Although a toil, the woods I walked through were inspiring. Spring and summer I'd be woken by the birds, not an alarm clock. The views through a window change with the seasons, always different but the same perspective. There is no price to be put on that. You are both on the right track to finding personal equilibrium. keep it up. Don't be swimming in the Kennet n Avon. My wife's ashes are in there. She loved it so much. Love.
Oh wow! Where about’s did you live? Joe has always fancied the colder climates and we watch a guy renovating a barn up in the alps which obviously has its hurdles. Very kind comment thank you. Will cheers to your wife the next time a bottle is open!
@@DanniandJoe Back in the early 80s, in a caravan, in woodland by a lake in Germany. There for 4 years. Winters were harder then. Frost was measured in centimetres, i.e. how deep one had to go before the earth was workable with a spade. The lake would freeze over each winter such that trucks selling sausage and beer could drive on while people skated around. The world is changing. I was back there some 7 years ago. All one could do would to have a cold swim. Damned climate change. Her name was Jilly. She'd appreciate a toast, as I do often. As long as she is spoken about and remembered, I believe she's still there. Bless her and you both.
@@chrisward7387 It must be scary when you witness that much change in a relatively short space of time considering. That sounds hard work but equally idyllic. Ahh bless her, take care.
@@DanniandJoe I fear for my grand children, the youngest being 2. The cost of living crisis is transitory. Climate change is not in terms of the human lifespan. The current problems in Pakistan are of biblical proportions. It is all very real. All but the minority seem to me to blinkered to the fact. Yes it was hard, but at the time, just life. I couldn't do it now. Too old. Summers were different. The greatest hardship were the Mosquitoes, but you get used to them after a couple of weeks. Reading this post back, I seem to come across as the harbinger of doom. I don't mean too. If we all do our bit, then we can do no more. You are doing your bit being off grid. Don't forget to toast my Jilly. Love
@@chrisward7387 it’s unfortunately one of the main reasons we’re not actively looking to bring kids into the world. Maybe as a species we’ll pull it back at the last minute once every resource has been maxed out but who knows. On a more positive note we opened a bottle of champagne tonight as Joe’s friend just asked him to take up a certain responsibility at their wedding next year and we made sure to toast Jilly.
Well explained by the both of you. I lived on a boat since the late 80s and wouldn’t go back to a house. Schooling was are biggest problem but we got round it. Keep your vlogs coming
Yes we’ve heard the schooling issue brought up before, there’s a local chap who’s been in the papers a few times explaining the troubles when CC’ing and keeping kids in school. Thanks for the nice comment!
Here is a huge pro for narrowboats, con for houses: scenery. Many years ago I visited England with my parents (I live in Central Florida and the nearest canal is Pirates of the Caribbean at Disney World). We were riding a tour bus back from somewhere and looking out the window I saw the stereotypical rolling hills and sheep. At first I thought it would be awesome to live in that area if only for the scenery. Then we went through a town/village and I saw people at a fast food restaurant and I had a realization: after a while you get used to the scenery and eventually you don't even notice it anymore. You become more concerned with taking the car in to be fixed or that meeting on Monday. Even with limited cruising you will frequently be around new scenery, during the cruise and while moored.
Ahh that’s so true! That’s part of the reason we love travelling so much and since the pandemic we’ve really been appreciating the UK a lot more, just romanticising day to day life helps a tonne in times like these
Danni, Jo, I got to the end. Your Vlog on the costs of Narrow-boating, Pros and Cons was really interesting. Really enjoyed this video. Have a great week. Take Care.
Well thought out and informative video, thank you! I’ve lived aboard sail boats for 23 years, but health issues have me looking at the canals. Took a week on the Shropshire to test it out - decision made. Goodbye Salt, hello trees and pubs. No more tides, rocks, waves, dragging anchors, expensive marinas. I’ll miss many things, but have more to look forward to. A few things I noticed on a narrow boat compared to sail boats: they’re ridiculously easy to manoeuvre, super safe, completely self contained, insanely comfortable and most important of all - they feel like a home. I add that being off grid (I will continuously cruise as retired) is a huge bonus and having no address in my view is a privacy guarantee. I guess if you’re younger that is a difficulty though. My cat loved the boat too! Thanks for your advice, your figures were pretty much identical to my estimates which has given me confidence in the decision. Happy Cruising to you two!
Oh wow, did you travel abroad with them or mainly the UK? Joe would love to learn to sail one day when time and money allows. Can imagine a lot more difficult to live on comfortably. Good luck on your quest for the right boat!
@@DanniandJoe yes took cat to Spain many times in a big car that I converted to a cat-home! No, not on the sail boat - I’d worry too much. But cat loved the hire boat recently (yes, the cat’s name actually is ‘cat’, I might need to work a bit on my imagination…) Sail boats are easier than you think, a few hours for the basics… BUT it’s all the paperwork that has ruined it. We seem pretty much unwelcome abroad now. Tell Joe a dinghy is more fun! Best wishes to you both!
The cost differences is quite massive. I'm thinking of coming back to Wales from Australia as my parents are getting on a bit, but don't want to commit to the UK so Living on a Narrow boat with a van for travel sounds like a good combination.
There’s some beautiful canals in Wales too! Danni was working near the Brecon & Monmouth in South Wales & then Llangollen is even more stunning. That’s our plan is another van for slightly faster paced travel and use the boat as a cheap base. Let us know if you’ve got any questions 🙂
I wish those of us retirees who live in the USA could buy a liveaboard and just stay on the canals. Alas, we can’t, so I live vicariously through you and others like you. I am glad I found you!
Hi really nice videos. We fulltime in a motorhome, and have done so for a long time. We sold up our house in UK and France. We will never buy again, no point , as for making money, yes you can, but then with the profit it's buy a bigger house. We bought our dream home detached 4 beds 10 years old. Windows needed replacing, boiler needed replacing etc etc. Noisy neighbours. Council tax . We have solar 475 Watts of solar, free camp in UK and Europe. Fulltime insurance £1200 a year. Refillable gas bottles, freedom. Good luck.
@@DanniandJoe hi we are in Spain until December and then back to UK for 3 months, then over to France, I travel on an Irish passport so can stay in Europe as long as I abide your the rules, any amount of time in France, with Spain 90 days and then have to cross the border to comply. ( my wife is covered under my passport ). We have fulltime insurance, when the time comes will just rent a place in UK, will never buy again, if you have paid for your home as we did , it becomes very mundane ( we are bases in the south west ) so will keep moving until we " can't tie our shoe laces up".
I came really close to living on a narrie boat back in 1987 when I was kicked out of my parents house due to the family breaking down, I ended up buying a shared ownership house with a friend and it took every penny from 4 jobs between us to make ends meet, would have been much easier and nicer imho to do the boat thing. But some 40 years later house is paid off so it's just the Bill's to pay which are actually pretty substantial still tbh, I do have the option of renting out my house and going to live on a boat though which I am very tempted to do. Back in 1988 the difference between renting and buying a house was not so big and in fact renting was cheaper. Buying a house in Italy sounds like a dream.
That’s what a lot of home owners seem to be doing. Renting out the house and living comfortably off the rent in a narrowboat! Would recommend renting one for a week before just to get a feel for things!
This is not relevant to the vlog but watching for half an hour I love how you both fiddle with your wedding rings. It was a very interesting comparison of costs and you must have put a lot of work into it. Best wishes Christine x
Thanks Christine! Ahh didn’t notice that, it’s quite a new feeling for me to wear a ring (Joe) but love wearing it nonetheless, must be a reassuring fidget when talking on camera 😂
Hi great video thanks for giving us the insight into the costs of living on a narrow boat,glad it's working for you two, looking forward to when you finish work on her.Ps Joe my wife would like to add can you give some thought into shaving your under chin facial hair, please.
I agree. You are both cool.Talented, artsy and refreshing. Buy an air fryer. We love ours. Apparently I love short sentences, too. Just want to know if you Sleep better on the boat.
I bought my first flat in 1991. I sold it in 95 and went to Uni and got my second house in 2000 and third in 2003. Finished paying for it last year and bought my fourth house cash last August. You got to look at the long term with property and I struggled to get an initial deposit and pay the mortgage but it got easier.
Did you know that you can save almost 50% on heating costs just by installing double-glazed windows instead of single-glazed ones? Nice vlog! Thank you
Our neighbours in the marina had double glazed windows installed and I do fancy it but the initial cost would be something in the region of £5,000 on a our boat which would take quite some time to repay itself. Never say never though!
@@vadmal5210 Hopefully they’ll come down as time goes on but it’s not like it’s a new invention or anything! Anything on a boat is that much more expensive though, for the size of the windows anyway!
Nice summary of costs. As someone who has not lived in UK for a long time this is better than most vlogs as you compare a boat with a similar option of flat. The idea of it being about 7,000 a year cheaper to live on a boat that also allows you to move as you like seems a deal deal - 7,000 should offset what you are losing in terms of a landed property increasing in value. We would be looking at this as an option after decades abroad (actually my wife has only had about 3 years in UK in total), so we really don't even know where we would want to be. Living on a boat would allow us to move around for a long time until finding the right part of the country, and then to test that for a while. As you say, 'don't like the neighbours? move!'. Same applies to a town, county or even region of the country. Only problem is if we find we don't like the country anymore. I watched my grandparents and then parents in their golden years spending most of their time simply sitting watching the world go by the window. On a boat at least you can vary that view. Also, on a boat you can still move at a stage in life where you really don't want to move house or even be away from home comforts. You simply take them with you for as long as you can manage the steps in and out of the boat. Cruise for as short or long a time in the day as you feel like doing so, then simply moor up. Not like driving a car where you need to get somewhere, be it home or a family member's house or a booked hotel even. You can't just decide to stop and sleep with a car. Did you actually make a list of the costs that could be shared? I'd love to examine the figures and compare them more closely house v boat. Thanks again.
Excellent analysis of the pros and cons of a mobile life. Lived in mobile caravans, a converted bus and a sea going catamaran. Great when I was younger and the UK had less restrictions. A good example is the attitude of the police then. Occasionally we would get a complaint about our park-up in a rural layby. The police would knock on the door and suggest another location, all very friendly. Geriatric now but if I had a choice I would live in a seagoing catamaran. Own my own house so would have no financial problems, but look after young grandchildren so the parents can work. They are the priority.
A catamaran is on the list for us, Joe would love to learn to sail at some point. Definitely more accepted to live on water in the UK than in a van (compared to France, Italy etc where lots of drop offs for toilet and water fill points)
@@DanniandJoe I believe when they collect they mix it all into the same lorry anyway. The refuse companies will sort through everything as they will make money out of whatever they can recycle, anything that goes to landfill will cost them. Love watching you guys, you give us a right giggle 🤭
I made it to the end of your video. Very interesting, since I'm being evicted from my rented house next month, making me homeless. Rents around here are uber expensive and house prices are crazy. I've got a van build underway which will probably be my first step, but the canal is an attractive option because it's so handy for my daughters school, so if be even closer than I am now. I spend more on gas, electricity, water and council tax than you do in total. I'd be saving a small fortune if I got a boat, even with the cost of buying it and getting it ship shape. Constant cruising is also attractive on the Bridgewater canal but I guess a mooring would be good, especially in Winter. Great insight. Thanks 👍🏻
All sounds good to me, surely a good water filtration system (maybe reverse osmosis) for grey water washing bathing, etc with a small tank for drinking would work. We live in a house that uses well water for everything except the drinking water you really don't use that much drinking water.
As soon as you mentioned at 11.50 into the video that you were not using a lot of diesel I thought condensation and water at the bottom of the diesel tank plus diesel bug treatment. Best to check for both regularly probably something you already do but better to be reminded than go for a cruise one weekend and find yourself needing a tow back to the marina.
Yes thanks for the reminder. We did treat what was in there with marine 16. We're running the tank down with the diesel heater at the minute and will siphon out to check and re-treat some new diesel in the future.
Interesting to watch a video like this that talks about the very real downsides of boat-life. I have been dancing on the edge of this sword for five years or more - whether to take the plunge and buy a boat or stick it out in bricks and mortar. Cost-wise it would seem to make sense, especially with the freedom to move about and visit different regions. But, as I enter my retirement years, I keep returning to the thought of do I really want to be dealing with porta-loos and water tanks and Calor gas and the limitations of those things?
We would hate for anyone to have this fairy tale image of living on a boat - it definitely has its perks as you can see but yes quite a few downsides. A lot of people do retire onto boats and generally there’s a great community in marinas, I’ve helped a chap change his gas bottle as he’s no longer able to climb up onto his boat through health issues. There would definitely be willing people to help, even if it costs a beer! Let us know if you have any questions 🙂
I’ve been living on boats for over 40 years and the things people often think of as down sides, such as getting water, gas, fuel toilet etc. are actually the things that help to ground you in reality and give a certain satisfaction in completing. There is nothing quite like the feeling of knowing the toilet is empty, water tank full, spare full gas bottle, enough fuel to keep you warm for a bit etc. It keeps you moving, keeps you active means you come into contact with others doing similar things and generally, for me at least, makes life better. If you don’t get satisfaction from doing things for yourself and being more in charge of your own destiny then it may not be for you. Fortunately it doesn’t suit everyone otherwise it would be horrid for those it used to suit.
Hi both, we live on a wide beam, have been for 7 years and the mooring cost is the only pit fall it is a 60x10 £4300 per year soon to sell for narrowboat , we may see you 😀
New subscriber. I have back dated on your videos. What an amazing job you have both done on the boat. You should both be so proud. It’s my dream to live on board maybe one day
Hi just been watching and danni said about growing food etc well since space is a premium have you thought about hydroponics gardening with water no digging soil. You'll need a fish tank 1mtr x30cm x30 cm and a lot of plastic tube enough to make some thing size of a towel rail in the bath room. So connect fish tank with small pump to rails at the top water flows around tubing and back to the tank. So drill holes in the top of the tubes 20 mm 26mm 150 to 180 apart wrap seeds in loft insulation wool plug in holes this will soak up the nutrition in the fish water returning all water back into the water tank. There is plenty of info on the subject I am not sponsored it's just interesting. There is a large operation in London called grown up huge warehouse 2000 fish and pallets up to ceiling. It takes a bit to work out the speed and some plants quicker than the others adjust the slope. If you don't like it you've still got a fish tank and fish looking for Bob and a towel rail just a thought and it's all year round growing indoors.
That’s interesting you should mention that, our friend lived in Oz for a couple of years and worked on a hydroponics farm, she returned to the UK and has started to setup her own so may chat with her and see if feasible on our scale!
love your content guys i had a few people suggest a houseboat before I got my flat and the only thing that put me off was the insecurity of having all my stuff stuck on a boat that could sink in rougher/winter weather "the local rivers and canals near me heavily flood each winter could go for a wander each day and see a different boat that's gone down 😩
Yes that would be awful and unfortunately like you said it does happen. A marina would be a good option which is partly why we’re a little comfortable in ours are the minute as we like popping away on trips and it’s nice knowing it’s being kept an eye on by the neighbours
Take note govts....the answer for helping many young couples get a first home together. With a net work of canals in place since the 18th century its surely makes sense to build more marinas and other infrastructure along existing canals without ruining the protected scenic way of life. Areas such as Devon & Cornwall have very few canals, which could supply first home dwellers some opportunity.
Great video. I've been waiting ages for someone to compare costs of living in a house in UK to living on a boat. I've been working away from UK for decades, so I'm wel out of touch with the true cost of living in a house in UK. A few others have done videos on the cost of living on a boat, but they did not compare with the cost of living in a house. A few of your points were a little jumbled, so I am not sure whether the following were fully covered or not - we did watch all the way through begining to end. I would love to have seen a spread sheet with 2 columns - house and boat costs, fixed and variable items. Council tax - I've heard of it, but is was not yet a thing when I first took a job abroad. How much is council tax for 2 people in a house? I know my late father didn't have to pay as he was a pensioner. Water. I saw a piece on FB where someone had just paid their water bill, but only paid for the supply side as a protest over water companies pumping raw sewage out these days (why pay a bill that is for sewage treatment if it is not being treated). Their full bill was over 200 quid - but I do not know how often the bills come around. (They paid 66 and sent a letter with copy on FB explaining the reason for the short payment. I'm waiting to see them publish the water company reply). I understand water is on meters now for all houses, so I'm guessing there is as much worry about water use in a house as there is on a boat, but about cost rather than where the next water point is. House maintenance. I was always told that you should budget at least 5% of the value of a house for maintenance per year. That does not include things like a new roof or other major repairs. I keep seeing posts on FB about energy cost shooting up in UK - frightening, utterly crazy. Inflation appears to be the worst in Europe too. If you live full time in a marina, never leaving it do you still have to pay for a CRT licence? (We favour the idea of continuous cruising, so it is an academic question.) My wife has never lived in Europe, let alone UK, so it would be a way of gradually seeing a large part of the country fully rather than disjoined short visits by car. Keep up the good work on the vlogs. Loving them. Danni, I fully understand you continuing to work, even if it is a zero hour contract. If you are working you can shope around for jobs and be taken seriously. If you haven't got a job and haven't worked for a while any interview will be full of questions about that. Once out of employment it is hard to get back into it again.
Water wise, my parents still aren’t on a meter but majority of houses are now, I believe when you move house now it’s compulsory for new owners or tenants to be on a meter. I’ve seen about the sewage protests too. It’s true half the bill is for waste water, if it was around £120 per month for a medium-large house that wouldn’t surprise me. Our friends are around £50 per month in flats for example. Yes unfortunately even in a marina you pay CRT license which we were surprised by as not using their facilities. Only way out of it is if you’re boat is out of the water (dry storage for example as some do in winter to perform maintenance). Thanks for the comment!
It is cheaper living on a boat obviously than renting But if your work is funding your rent then you're trapped. If you have an income you don't have to work for then boat life is good. It doesn't suit everyone and as you say the energy crisis will push many over the edge to look at alternative living styles I would happily go back on about providing we could keep a land base that is simply because of our ages. If you like boat life and can adapt to it's challenges then it's a fantastic way of life.
Just a comment. Even though you have bought the boat outright, you still need to included the interest on that money as it is tied up in the boat to compare it to renting. After all, if you rented you would get that money back and would earn interest on it (or in a house you would pay down the principle and it would lower the interest component of your mortgage payment). I hope you are taking time to enjoy what you are doing. You will look back on it very fondly. Good luck you both.
That vlog was sound as a pound, I was hoping you'd talk about the youtube income but it was all really informative, thanks for taking the time, not boring at all.
Really wanting to do this & looking at getting myself a narrow boat & yeah I’m doing the same looking,looking 😂 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻I find one soon , great content guys ❤
Glad you highlighted all those cons. We don't want anymore people congesting the waterways 😉 If your boats cold in the winter, you're doing something wrong. My fire last year got lit towards the end of October, and never went out until April this year. I've got 250Kg of coal onboard already for this winter😀
Thanks for that, lots of the local log guys offer ash! We're doing the same with some coal for over night. Just something nice about having logs on the fire on an evening.
Ahh sort to hear that! There’s no getting away from it that it can be hard work, especially through winter but for us the positives massively outweigh the negatives. Being retired will massively help & if you can afford the boat outright cost then running costs are generally much lower than a house
Just come across you… l hope you have now got a Air Fryer l would have one rather then an oven… l would love a narrowboat… but can’t persuade my husband😂
Hi Guys, it's my first time on your channel and I enjoyed watching. I'm in America -Arizona . Where did you go when you came for your holiday? Is there a program in the UK to help with the down payment on a house if you're a first time home buyer like in the US? Thank you for sharing I love watching videos on narrow boats like Ben and Emily
Ahh we loved Arizona! We did petrified forest, flagstaff, Williams, Page for antelope canyon & Horseshoe bend! I’m not too sure on videos for that but there should be something on TH-cam, worth a search for USA resident buying house in England
How deep are canals? I suppose some canal depths nearer to rivers may be deeper but narrow boats or wide beams don't require much clearance in marinas?
Mortgage is less than rent 8:27 because typically renter pays the landlords mortgage plus the maintenance fees plus the profit. Mortgage alone doesn't pay anything for the maintenancing or repairs or stuff like that. Mortgage is just the money going back to bank, the other costs come on top of that, if there is leaking roof or window need to be repaired or all that stuff what just happens.
Recent bad news concerning the CRT and funding is about to send the cost of narrow boating rocketing, alread changed my retirement plans I'm sad to say,
To be honest even after the increases it’s still a great value for the lifestyle if you’re CC’ing - at the minute our license is less than council tax alone on a flat!
will you be lifting the boat out to paint the exterior and have you any experience in hand brush technique as this is quite a skill. plenty of youtube vids in how to i would avoid using a roller
So I'm soon to purchase and begin life aboard due to cost if living crisis, yada yada.. My approach however is much more of a single birth on a shorter boat.. Do you have any tricks for space saving? I have all my basic requirements but zeeeero storage..
In that case you’re probably better off looking at van builds for inspiration as space is even more of a premium there. Think multipurpose when it comes to things like having the loo inside one of your seats & along those lines!
Hi. Just interested if you have a tow path residential mooring. We have been looking for a towpath mooring on the K&A for a while. I know there were a couple at Tyler Mill is that where you are. Do you know of any other moorings nearby. Great videos by the way. Thank you in advance for your info. 🤗
Unfortunately not! We’re in a private marina in Devizes, Wiltshire. We are a low usage/leisure mooring so 4/5 nights a week max but the rest of the time we’re at Joes parents or Danni’s working away. They are really quite hard to get hold of unfortunately!
You can buy a home in Italy for 1 Euro, which is a government scheme. It's available each year I think, but you have to prove you have the money to renovate, and you're also not guaranteed to be accepted.
One of the cons of y/tube, ya can watch some bugger tell you how good an "air fryer" is; Ya want one. I'm in the process of "which one is best".I will succumb in about a week !! Fair floating, D n J.
I've always wanted to live on a boat. And am now thinking about doing it. Does anyone know where I could look to rent? Would love to try out for a year or 6 months before. Or is that not a thing?
Little bit of a grey area renting a narrowboat unfortunately. Either get one for a week or two though a hire company or end up trying to rent one privately but likely not to be insured as they need a higher level of checks for license and insurance etc. Have a search on google though and see what you find as some may hire longer for cheaper out of season.
Thanks. That's what I was hoping for(out of season), but proving a bit hard to find. My assumption being if I like it in the winter. I'll like it in the summer ☺️
Your insurancefirm, how do they think about "traffic-insurance" and "home-insurance"? Gardening on the roof might cause you problems if/when you decide to cruise for real with the low tunnels and bridges so think twice about that. You talk about fuel-boats, they sell diesel, coal, kindeling and so on. Most boats that sinks that are in use sinks in locks. Coming wrong on the cill for instance.
Thanks guys; that's really interesting ( I've been thinkng about this). May I say one thing; throughout, you have some hideous and annoying background 'music'; why?
We just needed a negative test and to be vaccinated & was no need to quarantine. We flew into Florida if that makes any difference (back in April) - may have updated since then I’m not sure? It was part of an around the world trip we had booked pre-pandemic so just catching up on some travelling and using some flight vouchers we had left 🙂
As mentioned in the video we are on a leisure mooring so not technically living here. We’re both registered at our parents house where said tax is already paid. For people looking at residential moorings though it’s definitely something to consider.
@@DanniandJoe if you are mooring for more than 3 days a week, on a marina, it's a permanent residence. Also, you aren't allowed to live on a leisure mooring. But many do. It's a "don't ast, don't tell" situation. If no one reports you, you will be fine. If the marina doesn't evict you (most don't care) you should be fine.
@@Falney we stayed in the same marina as Danni and Joe and as long as you had so many nights out of the marina it was classed as leisure. I seem to think it was something like 4 weeks out of the marina per year.
@@annclark5082 all I know is that if you spend 3 days or less at address A and 4 days or more at address B, you have to legally register address B on the electoral roll and as your primary address. I.E. The address that you pay council tax on. This is something I found out going to uni. I stayed in my home town for 3 days of the week and my uni halls for 4. When I was told all about the whole primary residence thing from the council, I went home a day earlier then I didn't need to worry about the hassle.
It amazes me how much tax is. I'm in the USA, income tax, sales tax, registration tax, fuel tax, property tax, on and on. And the colonists revolted over 1% tea tax?
Do you need to “go” to work each day (forget it) Do you you need to visit “a” GP often (forget it) Do you not have a clue about DIY or sorting any boat issues yourself (forget it) Do you worry about (in some areas) the chav scum who can walk along side your boat (forget it) Does it piss you off walking along miles of muddy towpath’s to buy shopping / etc etc (forget it) Do you like space to store your things (definitely forget it) Yes in the summer months seeing a swan saying hello in the Morning ?
You guys ...I think you MAY be way underestimating for an apartment/ house. I'm not familiar with costs in the U.K...for an apartment, but lets assume London is on-par wirh Seattle or Boston, k? Currently, a shitty 2 bedroom, 750 sq ft.. nothing fancy, car port, dumpster for garbage, washer-drier in apartment, concrete pad or 70 sq ft deck. Would cost about $2700-3,000/mo w/o utilities, cable, food, etc. A house MORTGAGE for a crappy 1,200 sf with 1,200sf of fenced in lawn, 2 car garage- close to school, park, shopping will set you back about $300-$400k pretty much anywhere in the U.S.... Unless you're in drug Central, hookers, gangs...then you'll be paying about $210k A NICE house in Tacoma, WA $560k or Santa Fe, NM $460k or Dallas, Tx $400k ...Boston $650k Stick with the boat!
Admire your tenacity. I've lived in challenging circumstances, having being knee deep in snow with a 30 litre container, off to get water. Although a toil, the woods I walked through were inspiring. Spring and summer I'd be woken by the birds, not an alarm clock. The views through a window change with the seasons, always different but the same perspective. There is no price to be put on that. You are both on the right track to finding personal equilibrium. keep it up. Don't be swimming in the Kennet n Avon. My wife's ashes are in there. She loved it so much. Love.
Oh wow! Where about’s did you live? Joe has always fancied the colder climates and we watch a guy renovating a barn up in the alps which obviously has its hurdles. Very kind comment thank you. Will cheers to your wife the next time a bottle is open!
@@DanniandJoe Back in the early 80s, in a caravan, in woodland by a lake in Germany. There for 4 years. Winters were harder then. Frost was measured in centimetres, i.e. how deep one had to go before the earth was workable with a spade. The lake would freeze over each winter such that trucks selling sausage and beer could drive on while people skated around. The world is changing. I was back there some 7 years ago. All one could do would to have a cold swim. Damned climate change.
Her name was Jilly. She'd appreciate a toast, as I do often. As long as she is spoken about and remembered, I believe she's still there. Bless her and you both.
@@chrisward7387 It must be scary when you witness that much change in a relatively short space of time considering. That sounds hard work but equally idyllic. Ahh bless her, take care.
@@DanniandJoe I fear for my grand children, the youngest being 2. The cost of living crisis is transitory. Climate change is not in terms of the human lifespan. The current problems in Pakistan are of biblical proportions. It is all very real. All but the minority seem to me to blinkered to the fact.
Yes it was hard, but at the time, just life. I couldn't do it now. Too old. Summers were different. The greatest hardship were the Mosquitoes, but you get used to them after a couple of weeks.
Reading this post back, I seem to come across as the harbinger of doom. I don't mean too. If we all do our bit, then we can do no more. You are doing your bit being off grid. Don't forget to toast my Jilly. Love
@@chrisward7387 it’s unfortunately one of the main reasons we’re not actively looking to bring kids into the world. Maybe as a species we’ll pull it back at the last minute once every resource has been maxed out but who knows. On a more positive note we opened a bottle of champagne tonight as Joe’s friend just asked him to take up a certain responsibility at their wedding next year and we made sure to toast Jilly.
Well explained by the both of you. I lived on a boat since the late 80s and wouldn’t go back to a house. Schooling was are biggest problem but we got round it. Keep your vlogs coming
Yes we’ve heard the schooling issue brought up before, there’s a local chap who’s been in the papers a few times explaining the troubles when CC’ing and keeping kids in school. Thanks for the nice comment!
Here is a huge pro for narrowboats, con for houses: scenery. Many years ago I visited England with my parents (I live in Central Florida and the nearest canal is Pirates of the Caribbean at Disney World). We were riding a tour bus back from somewhere and looking out the window I saw the stereotypical rolling hills and sheep. At first I thought it would be awesome to live in that area if only for the scenery. Then we went through a town/village and I saw people at a fast food restaurant and I had a realization: after a while you get used to the scenery and eventually you don't even notice it anymore. You become more concerned with taking the car in to be fixed or that meeting on Monday. Even with limited cruising you will frequently be around new scenery, during the cruise and while moored.
Ahh that’s so true! That’s part of the reason we love travelling so much and since the pandemic we’ve really been appreciating the UK a lot more, just romanticising day to day life helps a tonne in times like these
I love my air fryer. I think everyone should have one.
Such a really lovely frank young couple sharing their knowledge with others.
Thanks for the lovely comment!
Danni, Jo, I got to the end. Your Vlog on the costs of Narrow-boating, Pros and Cons was really interesting. Really enjoyed this video. Have a great week. Take Care.
Ahh thank you glad you enjoyed it!
Well thought out and informative video, thank you! I’ve lived aboard sail boats for 23 years, but health issues have me looking at the canals. Took a week on the Shropshire to test it out - decision made. Goodbye Salt, hello trees and pubs. No more tides, rocks, waves, dragging anchors, expensive marinas. I’ll miss many things, but have more to look forward to.
A few things I noticed on a narrow boat compared to sail boats: they’re ridiculously easy to manoeuvre, super safe, completely self contained, insanely comfortable and most important of all - they feel like a home.
I add that being off grid (I will continuously cruise as retired) is a huge bonus and having no address in my view is a privacy guarantee. I guess if you’re younger that is a difficulty though.
My cat loved the boat too!
Thanks for your advice, your figures were pretty much identical to my estimates which has given me confidence in the decision. Happy Cruising to you two!
Oh wow, did you travel abroad with them or mainly the UK? Joe would love to learn to sail one day when time and money allows. Can imagine a lot more difficult to live on comfortably. Good luck on your quest for the right boat!
@@DanniandJoe yes took cat to Spain many times in a big car that I converted to a cat-home! No, not on the sail boat - I’d worry too much. But cat loved the hire boat recently (yes, the cat’s name actually is ‘cat’, I might need to work a bit on my imagination…)
Sail boats are easier than you think, a few hours for the basics… BUT it’s all the paperwork that has ruined it. We seem pretty much unwelcome abroad now. Tell Joe a dinghy is more fun! Best wishes to you both!
Thank you for sharing this info. It is good to be able to hear from people who are living it. Take care, all the best and God bless.
Thank you for watching!
The cost differences is quite massive. I'm thinking of coming back to Wales from Australia as my parents are getting on a bit, but don't want to commit to the UK so Living on a Narrow boat with a van for travel sounds like a good combination.
There’s some beautiful canals in Wales too! Danni was working near the Brecon & Monmouth in South Wales & then Llangollen is even more stunning. That’s our plan is another van for slightly faster paced travel and use the boat as a cheap base. Let us know if you’ve got any questions 🙂
I wish those of us retirees who live in the USA could buy a liveaboard and just stay on the canals. Alas, we can’t, so I live vicariously through you and others like you. I am glad I found you!
Why can’t we? I could do this
@@cnobillbradley9673 Check the entry and residency requirements.
Hi really nice videos.
We fulltime in a motorhome, and have done so for a long time. We sold up our house in UK and France.
We will never buy again, no point , as for making money, yes you can, but then with the profit it's buy a bigger house.
We bought our dream home detached 4 beds 10 years old. Windows needed replacing, boiler needed replacing etc etc.
Noisy neighbours. Council tax .
We have solar 475 Watts of solar, free camp in UK and Europe. Fulltime insurance £1200 a year. Refillable gas bottles, freedom. Good luck.
Ahh nice! Do you base yourselves in the UK or Europe now?
@@DanniandJoe hi we are in Spain until December and then back to UK for 3 months, then over to France, I travel on an Irish passport so can stay in Europe as long as I abide your the rules, any amount of time in France, with Spain 90 days and then have to cross the border to comply. ( my wife is covered under my passport ). We have fulltime insurance, when the time comes will just rent a place in UK, will never buy again, if you have paid for your home as we did , it becomes very mundane ( we are bases in the south west ) so will keep moving until we " can't tie our shoe laces up".
Insurance is cheap there...I pay 7k a yr taxes
Love watching you too your boat is fantastic keep up the good work you are doing look forward to seeing you next week keep safe x
Thank you for all your support!
I came really close to living on a narrie boat back in 1987 when I was kicked out of my parents house due to the family breaking down, I ended up buying a shared ownership house with a friend and it took every penny from 4 jobs between us to make ends meet, would have been much easier and nicer imho to do the boat thing.
But some 40 years later house is paid off so it's just the Bill's to pay which are actually pretty substantial still tbh, I do have the option of renting out my house and going to live on a boat though which I am very tempted to do.
Back in 1988 the difference between renting and buying a house was not so big and in fact renting was cheaper.
Buying a house in Italy sounds like a dream.
That’s what a lot of home owners seem to be doing. Renting out the house and living comfortably off the rent in a narrowboat! Would recommend renting one for a week before just to get a feel for things!
This is not relevant to the vlog but watching for half an hour I love how you both fiddle with your wedding rings. It was a very interesting comparison of costs and you must have put a lot of work into it. Best wishes Christine x
Thanks Christine! Ahh didn’t notice that, it’s quite a new feeling for me to wear a ring (Joe) but love wearing it nonetheless, must be a reassuring fidget when talking on camera 😂
@@DanniandJoe it's lovely to see. Christine x
Hi great video thanks for giving us the insight into the costs of living on a narrow boat,glad it's working for you two, looking forward to when you finish work on her.Ps Joe my wife would like to add can you give some thought into shaving your under chin facial hair, please.
I agree. You are both cool.Talented, artsy and refreshing.
Buy an air fryer. We love ours. Apparently I love short sentences, too. Just want to know if you Sleep better on the boat.
😂 thank you that’s very kind! And will get looking for an air fryer!
@@DanniandJoe seconded re the airfryer absolutely marvellous they are
Great video. Regarding gardens you have a 2,000 mile garden that you don't have to tend to
But it’s the tending to them that we’d love! 😂 we passed a place the other day that someone had planted Rosemary and Sage 😂
Loved this… We jumped in feet first and no regrets … x
Aw I’m pleased it’s worked out for you! We did the same and so far so good!
Gas ran out that night! Of course it did 🙂. Love watching you two every week.
Couldn’t write it! Thank you!
I bought my first flat in 1991. I sold it in 95 and went to Uni and got my second house in 2000 and third in 2003. Finished paying for it last year and bought my fourth house cash last August. You got to look at the long term with property and I struggled to get an initial deposit and pay the mortgage but it got easier.
Really great vlog, loving your channel. Thanks for sharing 👍
Thank you for your support!
Best so far, All my question answered plus more
Thank you so much, we are glad to have answered all your questions 😊
Did you know that you can save almost 50% on heating costs just by installing double-glazed windows instead of single-glazed ones? Nice vlog! Thank you
Our neighbours in the marina had double glazed windows installed and I do fancy it but the initial cost would be something in the region of £5,000 on a our boat which would take quite some time to repay itself. Never say never though!
@@DanniandJoe £5,000? THAT'S expensive... I've checked "Domestic" and their products are strangely more expensive in GB vs SE
@@vadmal5210 Hopefully they’ll come down as time goes on but it’s not like it’s a new invention or anything! Anything on a boat is that much more expensive though, for the size of the windows anyway!
Nice summary of costs. As someone who has not lived in UK for a long time this is better than most vlogs as you compare a boat with a similar option of flat. The idea of it being about 7,000 a year cheaper to live on a boat that also allows you to move as you like seems a deal deal - 7,000 should offset what you are losing in terms of a landed property increasing in value. We would be looking at this as an option after decades abroad (actually my wife has only had about 3 years in UK in total), so we really don't even know where we would want to be. Living on a boat would allow us to move around for a long time until finding the right part of the country, and then to test that for a while. As you say, 'don't like the neighbours? move!'. Same applies to a town, county or even region of the country. Only problem is if we find we don't like the country anymore.
I watched my grandparents and then parents in their golden years spending most of their time simply sitting watching the world go by the window. On a boat at least you can vary that view. Also, on a boat you can still move at a stage in life where you really don't want to move house or even be away from home comforts. You simply take them with you for as long as you can manage the steps in and out of the boat. Cruise for as short or long a time in the day as you feel like doing so, then simply moor up. Not like driving a car where you need to get somewhere, be it home or a family member's house or a booked hotel even. You can't just decide to stop and sleep with a car.
Did you actually make a list of the costs that could be shared? I'd love to examine the figures and compare them more closely house v boat.
Thanks again.
Excellent analysis of the pros and cons of a mobile life. Lived in mobile caravans, a converted bus and a sea going catamaran. Great when I was younger and the UK had less restrictions. A good example is the attitude of the police then. Occasionally we would get a complaint about our park-up in a rural layby. The police would knock on the door and suggest another location, all very friendly.
Geriatric now but if I had a choice I would live in a seagoing catamaran. Own my own house so would have no financial problems, but look after young grandchildren so the parents can work. They are the priority.
A catamaran is on the list for us, Joe would love to learn to sail at some point. Definitely more accepted to live on water in the UK than in a van (compared to France, Italy etc where lots of drop offs for toilet and water fill points)
Really interesting to see the costs, thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you for watching!
I love my airfryer, couldn't live without it now, you guys are great 😊 xx
Ahh thank you!
all the C&RT bins are sorted and recycled so don't worry about them not having separate bins on the side of the cut for you
Ahh some of the bins we found were separate. We’re in the habit of doing it anyway 😊
@@DanniandJoe I believe when they collect they mix it all into the same lorry anyway. The refuse companies will sort through everything as they will make money out of whatever they can recycle, anything that goes to landfill will cost them. Love watching you guys, you give us a right giggle 🤭
I made it to the end of your video. Very interesting, since I'm being evicted from my rented house next month, making me homeless. Rents around here are uber expensive and house prices are crazy.
I've got a van build underway which will probably be my first step, but the canal is an attractive option because it's so handy for my daughters school, so if be even closer than I am now. I spend more on gas, electricity, water and council tax than you do in total. I'd be saving a small fortune if I got a boat, even with the cost of buying it and getting it ship shape. Constant cruising is also attractive on the Bridgewater canal but I guess a mooring would be good, especially in Winter. Great insight. Thanks 👍🏻
Perfect episode. Thanks for all the information
Thanks for watching!
All sounds good to me, surely a good water filtration system (maybe reverse osmosis) for grey water washing bathing, etc with a small tank for drinking would work. We live in a house that uses well water for everything except the drinking water you really don't use that much drinking water.
As soon as you mentioned at 11.50 into the video that you were not using a lot of diesel I thought condensation and water at the bottom of the diesel tank plus diesel bug treatment. Best to check for both regularly probably something you already do but better to be reminded than go for a cruise one weekend and find yourself needing a tow back to the marina.
Yes thanks for the reminder. We did treat what was in there with marine 16. We're running the tank down with the diesel heater at the minute and will siphon out to check and re-treat some new diesel in the future.
Watched to the end, and grateful for it too. So interesting and actually well presented, lol.
Thank you for watching!
Well done love from Grumpy
Thanks pops xxxxx
Interesting to watch a video like this that talks about the very real downsides of boat-life. I have been dancing on the edge of this sword for five years or more - whether to take the plunge and buy a boat or stick it out in bricks and mortar. Cost-wise it would seem to make sense, especially with the freedom to move about and visit different regions. But, as I enter my retirement years, I keep returning to the thought of do I really want to be dealing with porta-loos and water tanks and Calor gas and the limitations of those things?
We would hate for anyone to have this fairy tale image of living on a boat - it definitely has its perks as you can see but yes quite a few downsides. A lot of people do retire onto boats and generally there’s a great community in marinas, I’ve helped a chap change his gas bottle as he’s no longer able to climb up onto his boat through health issues. There would definitely be willing people to help, even if it costs a beer! Let us know if you have any questions 🙂
I’ve been living on boats for over 40 years and the things people often think of as down sides, such as getting water, gas, fuel toilet etc. are actually the things that help to ground you in reality and give a certain satisfaction in completing. There is nothing quite like the feeling of knowing the toilet is empty, water tank full, spare full gas bottle, enough fuel to keep you warm for a bit etc. It keeps you moving, keeps you active means you come into contact with others doing similar things and generally, for me at least, makes life better. If you don’t get satisfaction from doing things for yourself and being more in charge of your own destiny then it may not be for you. Fortunately it doesn’t suit everyone otherwise it would be horrid for those it used to suit.
@@philbrooke-little7082 Your comments have inspired me to give boat living a go... It's always nice to listen to experience... Thanks.
Great presentation! I wish we had your canal life style here in Texas.
I know some states have canals, shame not in Texas!
Hi both, we live on a wide beam, have been for 7 years and the mooring cost is the only pit fall it is a 60x10 £4300 per year soon to sell for narrowboat , we may see you 😀
Aw amazing! They definitely cost more than a narrowboat but probably an easier transition for a lot of people from a house 😊
New subscriber. I have back dated on your videos. What an amazing job you have both done on the boat. You should both be so proud. It’s my dream to live on board maybe one day
Ahh thank you very much!
Hi just been watching and danni said about growing food etc well since space is a premium have you thought about hydroponics gardening with water no digging soil. You'll need a fish tank 1mtr x30cm x30 cm and a lot of plastic tube enough to make some thing size of a towel rail in the bath room. So connect fish tank with small pump to rails at the top water flows around tubing and back to the tank. So drill holes in the top of the tubes 20 mm 26mm 150 to 180 apart wrap seeds in loft insulation wool plug in holes this will soak up the nutrition in the fish water returning all water back into the water tank. There is plenty of info on the subject I am not sponsored it's just interesting. There is a large operation in London called grown up huge warehouse 2000 fish and pallets up to ceiling. It takes a bit to work out the speed and some plants quicker than the others adjust the slope. If you don't like it you've still got a fish tank and fish looking for Bob and a towel rail just a thought and it's all year round growing indoors.
That’s interesting you should mention that, our friend lived in Oz for a couple of years and worked on a hydroponics farm, she returned to the UK and has started to setup her own so may chat with her and see if feasible on our scale!
love your content guys i had a few people suggest a houseboat before I got my flat and the only thing that put me off was the insecurity of having all my stuff stuck on a boat that could sink in rougher/winter weather "the local rivers and canals near me heavily flood each winter could go for a wander each day and see a different boat that's gone down 😩
Yes that would be awful and unfortunately like you said it does happen. A marina would be a good option which is partly why we’re a little comfortable in ours are the minute as we like popping away on trips and it’s nice knowing it’s being kept an eye on by the neighbours
Take note govts....the answer for helping many young couples get a first home together. With a net work of canals in place since the 18th century its surely makes sense to build more marinas and other infrastructure along existing canals without ruining the protected scenic way of life. Areas such as Devon & Cornwall have very few canals, which could supply first home dwellers some opportunity.
Unfortunately that’s if even they want more people actually owning their properties and not just renting - renting benefits a lot of wealthy people!
Great video guys!
Thanks for watching!
Hi very god informative episode.Before the. Cold weather upgrade the windows to double glazing
That is very much out of our budget - if we ever got a new boat we could make sure they had double glazing. Most boats don’t have them unfortunately
Watched it all the way through
Thank you for watching! Glad you made it til the end 😊
Good information there guys, thanks
Thank you ☺️
Great video. I've been waiting ages for someone to compare costs of living in a house in UK to living on a boat. I've been working away from UK for decades, so I'm wel out of touch with the true cost of living in a house in UK. A few others have done videos on the cost of living on a boat, but they did not compare with the cost of living in a house.
A few of your points were a little jumbled, so I am not sure whether the following were fully covered or not - we did watch all the way through begining to end. I would love to have seen a spread sheet with 2 columns - house and boat costs, fixed and variable items.
Council tax - I've heard of it, but is was not yet a thing when I first took a job abroad. How much is council tax for 2 people in a house? I know my late father didn't have to pay as he was a pensioner.
Water. I saw a piece on FB where someone had just paid their water bill, but only paid for the supply side as a protest over water companies pumping raw sewage out these days (why pay a bill that is for sewage treatment if it is not being treated). Their full bill was over 200 quid - but I do not know how often the bills come around. (They paid 66 and sent a letter with copy on FB explaining the reason for the short payment. I'm waiting to see them publish the water company reply). I understand water is on meters now for all houses, so I'm guessing there is as much worry about water use in a house as there is on a boat, but about cost rather than where the next water point is.
House maintenance. I was always told that you should budget at least 5% of the value of a house for maintenance per year. That does not include things like a new roof or other major repairs.
I keep seeing posts on FB about energy cost shooting up in UK - frightening, utterly crazy. Inflation appears to be the worst in Europe too.
If you live full time in a marina, never leaving it do you still have to pay for a CRT licence? (We favour the idea of continuous cruising, so it is an academic question.) My wife has never lived in Europe, let alone UK, so it would be a way of gradually seeing a large part of the country fully rather than disjoined short visits by car.
Keep up the good work on the vlogs. Loving them.
Danni, I fully understand you continuing to work, even if it is a zero hour contract. If you are working you can shope around for jobs and be taken seriously. If you haven't got a job and haven't worked for a while any interview will be full of questions about that. Once out of employment it is hard to get back into it again.
Water wise, my parents still aren’t on a meter but majority of houses are now, I believe when you move house now it’s compulsory for new owners or tenants to be on a meter. I’ve seen about the sewage protests too. It’s true half the bill is for waste water, if it was around £120 per month for a medium-large house that wouldn’t surprise me. Our friends are around £50 per month in flats for example.
Yes unfortunately even in a marina you pay CRT license which we were surprised by as not using their facilities. Only way out of it is if you’re boat is out of the water (dry storage for example as some do in winter to perform maintenance). Thanks for the comment!
It is cheaper living on a boat obviously than renting
But if your work is funding your rent then you're trapped.
If you have an income you don't have to work for then boat life is good.
It doesn't suit everyone and as you say the energy crisis will push many over the edge to look at alternative living styles
I would happily go back on about providing we could keep a land base that is simply because of our ages.
If you like boat life and can adapt to it's challenges then it's a fantastic way of life.
Yes you can definitely get into a unfortunate cycle when renting! It’s not for everyone but we really enjoy it 😊
Watching this video after the next, that bit about getting a magnet was quite prescient. If Joe only knew then what he knows now 😄
😂😫
Just a comment. Even though you have bought the boat outright, you still need to included the interest on that money as it is tied up in the boat to compare it to renting. After all, if you rented you would get that money back and would earn interest on it (or in a house you would pay down the principle and it would lower the interest component of your mortgage payment).
I hope you are taking time to enjoy what you are doing. You will look back on it very fondly. Good luck you both.
That vlog was sound as a pound, I was hoping you'd talk about the youtube income but it was all really informative, thanks for taking the time, not boring at all.
As I was editing I realised we didn’t come back round to it. Will make sure we cover it in a future video!
Thanks for sharing
Thank you for watching!
Love my air fryer, get one! Love your channel.
Thank you! With the response we’re both convinced it’s a good purchase
Totally awesome life style
We enjoy it! It definitely has it moments when we really just want a cosy house but for the most part we love it ❤️
Very detailed and insightful - thank you!
Thanks for this! Very informative 😊♥️
You're so welcome!
Watching you guys build your boat was a great experience for me. I have a great deal of respect for your skills, your patience, and your perservance!
Thank you very much!
I no no kkkki no no it's 0
@@Drewhoundful7:14
Great vlog, I’m sure a lot of people will find it useful. Danni can I ask what make are your dungarees thanks x
Thank you! They are Lucy and Yaks, my absolute favourite!
Really wanting to do this & looking at getting myself a narrow boat & yeah I’m doing the same looking,looking 😂 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻I find one soon , great content guys ❤
Thank you very much! Best of luck in your search!
Enjoyed that!
Thanks for watching!
Glad you highlighted all those cons. We don't want anymore people congesting the waterways 😉
If your boats cold in the winter, you're doing something wrong. My fire last year got lit towards the end of October, and never went out until April this year. I've got 250Kg of coal onboard already for this winter😀
😂😂. 250kg! Wow! Thanks for the recommendation on excel as well, we’ll get some onboard
People will live in boat/van and that’s up to them !
Very well done 👏 👏
Next project live aboard sail boat ?
Hahaha that would be dreamy!
An excellent balanced review
I love your channel.
Thank you very much!
Great video guys 😊👍🏽
Oh and also… get an air fryer!
Got one on the shopping list already 😫😂
Hello, I have tried lots of wood I find ash worked out cheaper as it burned longer, this year I have also got smokeless coal to put on overnight.
Thanks for that, lots of the local log guys offer ash! We're doing the same with some coal for over night. Just something nice about having logs on the fire on an evening.
Thank so much enjoyed it slowly getting Devore (. Separating ) and thinking would a norrow boat suit me 67 yrs and retired .?
Ahh sort to hear that! There’s no getting away from it that it can be hard work, especially through winter but for us the positives massively outweigh the negatives. Being retired will massively help & if you can afford the boat outright cost then running costs are generally much lower than a house
what about house maintenance? thanks, love you.
We did touch on it but is it very difficult to give an estimate, when things go wrong on houses it can cost a pretty penny for sure!
Amazing thanks, how do you know if a deal is too good to be true?
Just come across you… l hope you have now got a Air Fryer l would have one rather then an oven… l would love a narrowboat… but can’t persuade my husband😂
Had 18 years off grid on a boat now. Only free (ish) way to live in UK now. Van life is too hard.
Definitely much harder in a van, it's a shame as so many European countries encourage it.
Hi Guys, it's my first time on your channel and I enjoyed watching. I'm in America -Arizona . Where did you go when you came for your holiday?
Is there a program in the UK to help with the down payment on a house if you're a first time home buyer like in the US?
Thank you for sharing I love watching videos on narrow boats like Ben and Emily
Ahh we loved Arizona! We did petrified forest, flagstaff, Williams, Page for antelope canyon & Horseshoe bend! I’m not too sure on videos for that but there should be something on TH-cam, worth a search for USA resident buying house in England
REMEMBER buying a new boat you have VAT at 20%
Yes very good point!
How deep are canals? I suppose some canal depths nearer to rivers may be deeper but narrow boats or wide beams don't require much clearance in marinas?
Around 4ft deep, I think most boats clear by 1ft or so, if the water level is low in the canal we’ve become stuck before!
Mortgage is less than rent 8:27 because typically renter pays the landlords mortgage plus the maintenance fees plus the profit. Mortgage alone doesn't pay anything for the maintenancing or repairs or stuff like that. Mortgage is just the money going back to bank, the other costs come on top of that, if there is leaking roof or window need to be repaired or all that stuff what just happens.
Yes makes sense
Yeah, but you haven't mentioned that being in a marina, in that rent generally is included electricity hook up.
The the two marina’s we’ve been in were metered & charged
Recent bad news concerning the CRT and funding is about to send the cost of narrow boating rocketing, alread changed my retirement plans I'm sad to say,
To be honest even after the increases it’s still a great value for the lifestyle if you’re CC’ing - at the minute our license is less than council tax alone on a flat!
Don't forget Council tax every month. It runs about £150 per month in a town
will you be lifting the boat out to paint the exterior and have you any experience in hand brush technique as this is quite a skill. plenty of youtube vids in how to i would avoid using a roller
Yes we will be doing that! Lots of pros and cons, most of the videos we have seen use rollers 😊
So I'm soon to purchase and begin life aboard due to cost if living crisis, yada yada.. My approach however is much more of a single birth on a shorter boat.. Do you have any tricks for space saving? I have all my basic requirements but zeeeero storage..
In that case you’re probably better off looking at van builds for inspiration as space is even more of a premium there.
Think multipurpose when it comes to things like having the loo inside one of your seats & along those lines!
@@DanniandJoe good idea, thank you 😊
Hi. Just interested if you have a tow path residential mooring. We have been looking for a towpath mooring on the K&A for a while. I know there were a couple at Tyler Mill is that where you are. Do you know of any other moorings nearby. Great videos by the way. Thank you in advance for your info. 🤗
Unfortunately not! We’re in a private marina in Devizes, Wiltshire. We are a low usage/leisure mooring so 4/5 nights a week max but the rest of the time we’re at Joes parents or Danni’s working away. They are really quite hard to get hold of unfortunately!
You can buy a home in Italy for 1 Euro, which is a government scheme. It's available each year I think, but you have to prove you have the money to renovate, and you're also not guaranteed to be accepted.
Airfryers are amazing…. Do it
Petition to get me an air fryer 😂
One of the cons of y/tube, ya can watch some bugger tell you how good an "air fryer" is; Ya want one. I'm in the process of "which one is best".I will succumb in about a week !! Fair floating, D n J.
😂😂 let us know which one you go for!
How small is your water tank to only last 3/4 days😂, is a bath really that important
I watched to the end 😂
😂😂
Nice bangers
Yeah getting Airfryer cheap to run buy a good make
On the list!
I've always wanted to live on a boat. And am now thinking about doing it. Does anyone know where I could look to rent? Would love to try out for a year or 6 months before. Or is that not a thing?
Little bit of a grey area renting a narrowboat unfortunately. Either get one for a week or two though a hire company or end up trying to rent one privately but likely not to be insured as they need a higher level of checks for license and insurance etc. Have a search on google though and see what you find as some may hire longer for cheaper out of season.
Thanks. That's what I was hoping for(out of season), but proving a bit hard to find. My assumption being if I like it in the winter. I'll like it in the summer ☺️
@@MarcWeyers yes 100% if you can make a winter you’ll love the summer. If we hear of any will try and get in touch but seems so uncommon unfortunately
Thanks that would be amazing
Your insurancefirm, how do they think about "traffic-insurance" and "home-insurance"? Gardening on the roof might cause you problems if/when you decide to cruise for real with the low tunnels and bridges so think twice about that. You talk about fuel-boats, they sell diesel, coal, kindeling and so on. Most boats that sinks that are in use sinks in locks. Coming wrong on the cill for instance.
Very helpful video. Has anyone parked a boat on land full time to save marina costs? Is it allowed?
It has been done, not sure if it’s classed as a permanent building though! Plenty get taken out to be worked on through the winter etc
Intrigued by the "Sex Wax" sticker on your laptop.........Is that a requirement for narrowboating? 😀
Haha it’s a surfing brand, wax for boards 😂
Never mind all that, tell us about "Sexy wax"
😂😂😂 it’s not as fun as it sounds - a wax for surfboards believe it or not, tag line ‘the best for your stick’
@@DanniandJoe 😂
Thanks guys; that's really interesting ( I've been thinkng about this). May I say one thing; throughout, you have some hideous and annoying background 'music'; why?
100% should get an Airfryer .
It’s on the shopping list!
wow how come you were in US for 3 mths? Supposed to be closed still.
We just needed a negative test and to be vaccinated & was no need to quarantine. We flew into Florida if that makes any difference (back in April) - may have updated since then I’m not sure? It was part of an around the world trip we had booked pre-pandemic so just catching up on some travelling and using some flight vouchers we had left 🙂
I have some bad news for you. If you are living in a Marina, you are supposed to pay council tax
As mentioned in the video we are on a leisure mooring so not technically living here. We’re both registered at our parents house where said tax is already paid. For people looking at residential moorings though it’s definitely something to consider.
@@DanniandJoe if you are mooring for more than 3 days a week, on a marina, it's a permanent residence. Also, you aren't allowed to live on a leisure mooring.
But many do. It's a "don't ast, don't tell" situation. If no one reports you, you will be fine. If the marina doesn't evict you (most don't care) you should be fine.
@@Falney we stayed in the same marina as Danni and Joe and as long as you had so many nights out of the marina it was classed as leisure. I seem to think it was something like 4 weeks out of the marina per year.
@@annclark5082 all I know is that if you spend 3 days or less at address A and 4 days or more at address B, you have to legally register address B on the electoral roll and as your primary address. I.E. The address that you pay council tax on. This is something I found out going to uni. I stayed in my home town for
3 days of the week and my uni halls for 4. When I was told all about the whole primary residence thing from the council, I went home a day earlier then I didn't need to worry about the hassle.
It amazes me how much tax is. I'm in the USA, income tax, sales tax, registration tax, fuel tax, property tax, on and on.
And the colonists revolted over 1% tea tax?
👍❤️👍
Do you need to “go” to work each day (forget it)
Do you you need to visit “a” GP often (forget it)
Do you not have a clue about DIY or sorting any boat issues yourself (forget it)
Do you worry about (in some areas) the chav scum who can walk along side your boat (forget it)
Does it piss you off walking along miles of muddy towpath’s to buy shopping / etc etc (forget it)
Do you like space to store your things (definitely forget it)
Yes in the summer months seeing a swan saying hello in the Morning ?
You guys ...I think you MAY be way underestimating for an apartment/ house.
I'm not familiar with costs in the U.K...for an apartment, but lets assume London is on-par wirh Seattle or Boston, k?
Currently, a shitty 2 bedroom, 750 sq ft.. nothing fancy, car port, dumpster for garbage, washer-drier in apartment, concrete pad or 70 sq ft deck. Would cost about $2700-3,000/mo w/o utilities, cable, food, etc.
A house MORTGAGE for a crappy 1,200 sf with 1,200sf of fenced in lawn, 2 car garage- close to school, park, shopping will set you back about $300-$400k pretty much anywhere in the U.S....
Unless you're in drug Central, hookers, gangs...then you'll be paying about $210k
A NICE house in Tacoma, WA $560k or Santa Fe, NM $460k or Dallas, Tx $400k ...Boston $650k
Stick with the boat!
Xx
Sod off leave us all alone lol 😂