Living on a Tiny House Boat for 5 Years Saved His Life – NARROWBOAT STORY

foreign [Applause] this alternative lifestyle living on a narrowboat off-grid out in the countryside having different scenery every few weeks when you move seeing different Wildlife the Tranquility of it all has saved my life and he and he puts me in a wonderful place and I've learned to live in the moment [Music] I've been living on the boat for five years now and uh it's it's incredible I don't think I could go and live in a house it's just so amazingly different living on a nariable everything slows down and living in such a small space having the least amount of things gives you a lot more freedom you feel a lot Freer you know you've got less to worry about as well foreign for 26 years two children and was working in the pub trade with my wife and we decided to go and live abroad and unfortunately after the first year my wife became very very ill very quickly and passed away and I was left devastated uh you know I was depressed and I had to come back to the UK and I came back with very little money and in a suitcase that was it I ended up couch surfing staying at friends and family's houses and had no home didn't know really where my life was going um but I was really really depressed and nearly ended my life woke up in hospital one day and and that was a bit of an Awakening for me and I ended up getting a job with the canal and River Trust the canal and River trust they look after the canals the 2000 mile Network canals throughout the UK and I became one of their fundraisers and I got chatting and friendly with all the boaters and they were telling me how amazing it was and how it changed their lives and I just thought I gotta do that I need to be on the canal how could I you know but I've got no money I can't afford to to buy an airboat and I went back to a family member was talking about it and said look you know I've got to get out of this depression now I need a home I need somewhere to stay at because I was couch surfing and staying in people's houses that I didn't know and my family relative says how much do you want go out buy yourself a boat and and that's what I did and it was only sort of like the second bow that I looked at that you know as soon as I went inside I just thought this is home I could live on this boat it's amazing and so that's how I I got the bow and so grateful for it this lifestyle has saved my life my home is 57 foot long and it was built in 2005. it's called the Liverpool build which were quite common in the days it was quite in a a dirty stay Rusty state but not that bad you know it was just surface rust and but it it needed painting it needed a rub down and never done anything like it in my life before but I managed to rub the whole 57 foot of the boat down um treat the rust put some primer on and repaint it the lovely green and so the interior I've not really done a lot inside um the chap that had it before me it insulated it with foam well he did all the carpentry in here he did all the fitting of the kitchen everything I am a full-time liver board and I'm a continuous Cruiser a continuous Cruiser is a person that doesn't mow their bow in a marina I just literally move every two weeks that's the rules with the canal River trust so for me uh moving the boat it's not a problem I love it because it's like you're on vacation all the time you have two weeks in one beautiful place and then you move on to another place and and the energy is different every time the scene is different to every time living off grid I have solar on the roof I have one solar panel which just provides enough electricity for me to to work on my laptop and and to charge up all my little bits and pieces that I need and the lighting of course and the engine also provides electricity the engine is diesel powered um I would love an electric belt but I haven't got the money to to pay for that so I'm just happy with what I've got I have also um the wood burner which provides me heat through the coldest of winters and it can get very cold in Winter we could get Frozen in sometimes and you really do need that on and it does heat up quite quickly in this bow foreign I have a gas cooker and that the gas is provided by two bottles that I have at the bow of the boat in a container underneath hidden away so I haven't got really a lot of expenses I just pay the canal River truster fee to to live on the canal there's the insurance to pay things like that maintenance of the boat the blacking that needs doing where the boat comes out of the water and it it's basically jet washed down and then re-blacked to protect the whole from corrosion we have to buy fuel for the fire fuel for the engine to work and I have gas for the cooker and that's it that the gas is just for the cooker only but two bottles of gas can last me up to a year it is cheap if you're a continuous Cruiser if you're in a marina like a lot of boaters um they pay a lot more fees and it does cost a lot more and the electricity can be quite expensive um that's why I chose to be a continuous Cruiser keep moving along the canals because it's a lot cheaper way to live and and it's just I just love moving about and just to enjoy that that time at each different Mooring financially I just get by on very little money I look after a family member who's 80 years old I look after them two days a week and I have a small amount of money coming in from donations from my YouTube channel during lockdown my job as a fundraiser with the canal River trust ended and I needed something to do so I created a YouTube channel because I'm a amateur filmmaker self-taught I decided to share all that beautiful footage and and become a vlogger in a way and I have this channel called inspired by nature and it's about just sharing my experiences and putting Positive Vibes out there and showing people how connected with nature can help you [Music] there is quite a lot of hard work behind the scenes living on a narrowboat you know you you've got to go and get supplies we're off grid so you know we don't have all continuous water supplied to the bow it's got a tank at the front of the boat so I have to go and fill up the water tank I have to go and get my fuel for the fire and supplies for food and and things like this sometimes I'm moored out in the middle of nowhere maybe 400 yards from the nearest road and I have to go into town get the shop in and bring it back along that toe path in all weathers and so you're trailing that trolley look at it that's what I have is this trolley and um yeah it's it's not all what we call castles and Roses it can be quite difficult at times especially in Winter um when there's lots of snow and sometimes you get Frozen in as well you you can't go anywhere um luckily for us when you're Frozen in the canal River trust that you can't tell you to move on you have to stay where you are um and it and the temperatures can you know inside the boat because the water's cold frozen over at times then the boat can be really cold um and if you if I've gone away for a while and the fire's gone out it could be minus temperatures inside the boat but it doesn't take long to get the fire going and within 2013 minutes or so it starts warming up and it can be very very cozy in Winter inside this but with the the wood burner there um but it's something over the last five years that I've got used to um it seems difficult but you know all these things that like the engine bear you I end up servicing my own engine bay and you get oily and greasy but at the end of the day all the the negatives are outweighed by the positives of living this lifestyle I just enjoy this so much living on the canal it is beautiful and um and like I say not having a lot of things being very simple with with the amount of objects in the bow you know there's not a lot of clutter it's very simple and um and I think that's how life needs to be really sometimes we get too attached and and gather too many things [Music] I don't have any regrets I'm pleased that I moved on to an hour but I'm just enjoying every moment and that is the the main thing for me and what I've learned to do is live in the moment enjoy now the present time I'm in a good place and I'm lucky as well very lucky to be here thank you [Music] subscribe to explain Alternatives and check out our playlists for more stories like this you can also follow Dave on YouTube at inspired by Nature thanks for watching

Channel: Exploring Alternatives

Views: 1,609,347

Keywords: living on a narrowboat, narrowboat, narrow, boat, life, boat life, living on a boat, liveaboard, full time, cruiser, cruising, continuous, mooring, moored, UK, Canal, River, Trust, cost, fees, budget, expenses, Inspired by Nature, Exploring Alternatives, water, steel, hull, off, grid, off the grid, wood, stove, gas, cooker, cassette, toilet, tanks, filling, dumping, supplies, towpath, Dave, man, documentary, nature, photographer, wildlife, scenery, story, 2023, 2024, new, inspiring, minimalist, minimalism, simple, diesel, engine, interior

Id: yRkHtTpAtBI

Length: 12min 5sec (725 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 24 2023