houseboat living

by a long-time residential boat inhabitant

In the early years after I first moved on to the water, I wrote story-poems about the life and adventures of a frog and some cats and dogs who lived on an old narrowboat moored alongside a woodland garden. Eventually, I came to realise that I was truly writing about myself, trying to frame some sort of message about my newfound world, and airing my view of how life was working out, but I constantly found it strange that I never could decide which of my characters was me.

I would be either Frog, the extravert who seemed to have all the practical sense and problem-solving abilities needed for life-afloat….or was I Emma Lou? the pretty feminine Calico cat, who coveted a new dress for Christmas and who could sing like an angel and loved to dance. Either way, all of this crew loved to play music and dance, each loved their boat and their canal and most things about it, and it was clear that each had their part to play in the life of this ongoing production.

I’ll relate some of Frog’s adventures as my story unwinds, but for now, there is a lot else to tell, and I must start at the beginning.

As for myself, I knew quite early on in my houseboat life, that at the end of my days on this planet, I would be back to haunt these murky still waters and this squirrel-chattering woodland.

Since those early days, I have learned a great deal, much of it about boats and their relationship with water and weather, and so much more about problem-solving. My first boat had just reached one hundred years old, and was in dry-dock for some serious maintenance when curiosity got the better of me and I bravely enquired about its history and age.

Many years of DIY followed and I reached retirement age before acquiring my second boat, when finances dictated that this was bought as a steel shell, and that I fitted out the whole thing myself. At this point, I was able to plan and estimate the project and get it right without any help.

“A nice little project”commented the one neighbour who peered inside after the arrival of my empty new shell on the canalside. I continued to work part-time whilst dealing with my ‘project’ which took me two years to (almost) complete. For it’s certainly true that a boat, like a garden, is never complete.

All my plans worked out on time and on budget and to this day, years later, I have never tired of enjoying my sense of achievement and living in my cosy warm home.

updated 21 November 2021, more content coming soon……………..