The ultimate guide to living on a narrowboat in retirement

Chucking in the daily grind and heading off on a canal boat has the whiff of romance to it. And retirement can offer the perfect opportunity to indulge in this delightfully slow means of locomotion.

With the time to spend and freedom from financial worries, narrowboating is a rare chance to see the nation from an angle that few get to enjoy—from industrial history to lost byways and tranquil waterscapes.

But moving onto a boat as a liveaboard is big upheaval, and you need to go into it with your eyes open. It may be cheaper than living in a house, but there are still costs to consider. How do you know whether it would really suit you?

Well, read on for our ultimate guide to living on a narrowboat in retirement. And perhaps the first question that a would-be liveaboard will want to ask is, “can I afford it?”.

Cost of buying

Just as the cost of a home varies widely, so does the price of a narrowboat. Boats come in many different lengths, from 10ft tugs to 72ft behemoths that are right at the limit of what can navigate the UK’s canal network.

But one thing is guaranteed—it will set you back far less than buying bricks and mortar. In fact, you can easily find a second-hand narrowboat for less than one-tenth the price of the average British house, which is now valued at more than £280,000.

A quick search online will turn up canal boats for as little as £10,000 or as much as £200,000. At the lower end of the scale, expect to find shorter boats, older interiors, less equipment or even a bit of a project that needs to be finished off.

But with a decent budget, the sky is the limit. From modern gallies and high-pressure showers to solar panels, electric propulsion and wood-burning stoves—you could end up with something really unique. And you could even have a custom boat built for less than £200k.

As ever, beware of used boats that are not being shown in the water. It is always worth getting a qualified surveyor to take a look and pronounce on the hull integrity, engine health and fitness of the coachroof.

Other fixed costs

In order to operate the boat safely and legally, you will need to get it insured. The bare minimum is third party cover, but most boaters will opt for hull insurance as well, to cover them in the event of an accident.

A third-party policy from Ripe Insurance without a no-claims discount costs little more than £108, while full hull and machinery cover brings this to £377 for a 30-year-old boat worth £50,000. On top of that, you will probably want contents insurance to cover damage to or theft of your valuables.

All boaters must also pay for a licence to cruise any given stretch of the waterways. In England and Wales, this is administered by the Canal & River Trust (CRT). North of the border, it is Scottish Canals that issues the permit and on the island of Ireland, it is Waterways Ireland. It’s a bit like road tax, and enables the upkeep of the canal infrastructure.

An annual licence from the CRT is calculated according to the vessel’s length and beam, but costs around £1,120 for a 48ft narrowboat. In Scotland, a 12-month licence costs £239.44 and in Ireland, it starts at €578, but includes the mooring as well.

You can also buy short-term cruising permits covering from a few days to a month if you are just passing through a region. This is useful for bucket list cruises, such as the famous Caledonian Canal.

Unless you are buying a new boat, you will also need a Boat Safety Certificate to show that the boat is safe to navigate and poses no risk to other users. It must be renewed every four years and costs around £200 each time. Think of it like your car’s MOT.

Tax

Some say that you can save money on taxes when you live aboard. Although you will pay VAT on purchasing a new boat, and on many of the services that surround boat ownership, there is no Council tax to pay.

Mooring

This is a perennial issue with narrowboating, and cleaves the world sharply into leisure boaters and liveaboards. In principle, you never need to pay for a mooring because most towpaths allow you to stay for up to two weeks in one spot for free. Some hotspots are stricter and allow just two nights before you have to move on.

If you are happy with a nomadic lifestyle, you can simply putter from one public mooring to the next. Just bear in mind that there are usually local rules that stipulate a minimum distance between mooring spots. This is to prevent “goal hanging” where boats just move one mooring along when their two weeks are up.

If you need to hook up to shorepower to recharge the batteries, or do a shop somewhere convenient, you might consider popping into a marina for a night or two, where you will be charged £15-25 per night.

But if you want a more settled existence, you will have to pay for a residential mooring. This allows you to keep the boat in the same spot year-round. And here, demand often exceeds supply.

In a dedicated marina, you can expect to pay between £3,000 and £5,000 for a year’s berthing—more in the centre of some cities. Overall, a residential mooring will typically cost from £2,000 per year to £12,000, depending on the facilities available and how plum your spot is.

There are plenty of reasons why you might want your own dedicated mooring. Some people like the idea of having a “home berth” in a familiar area. For others, it is important to remain close to settled member of the family, in a way that constantly being on the move doesn’t make easy.

Staying in touch

Modern communications mean that there is no reason you shouldn’t enjoy good internet access across most of the canal system. The best bet is via the mobile phone network. It is relatively cheap and simple to install a compact 4G antenna above deck that feeds into a wireless router below.

Or you could opt for a cutting-edge satellite broadband service. Providers like Starlink can provide lightning-fast streaming connectivity for £85/month, while the antenna itself cost £460. With speeds of more than 100Mbps, staying in touch with family, friends and finances is easy, although there are reports of unreliable coverage.

Internet TV is the easiest way to watch the box and saves time wasted twiddling the antenna / coathanger this way and that!

Energy

Narrowboats are not as energy hungry as a modern house, but they still require regular filling. Most still rely on a diesel engine, which also doubles as a generator that charges up the batteries and heats up the hot water.

Others have a dedicated generator, which is a more efficient way to produce electricity, but creates extra noise and exhaust. The best generators for boat use are also diesel powered.

If you have managed to secure a residential mooring, then it may have mains power available. Electricity can then provide heat, light and hot water, as well as the power to run domestic appliances. Be prepared to pay a surcharge for the power.

Many traditional boats also have a log or a coal stove below for heating purposes. This lends a cosy glow to the corner of the saloon, especially on a cold night, but remember that you’ll need a regular supply of fuel.

Healthcare

Britain’s NHS means that anyone who needs emergency healthcare should be able to access it—wherever in the country they happen to be. But for regular prescriptions, check-ups or outpatient treatment, an itinerant lifestyle may make things harder.

In principle, you are not required to have a fixed address to get an appointment, but in reality, many surgeries are full. An anecdotal survey of liveaboard boaters found that only 88 per cent of 356 respondents were registered with a GP and just 52 per cent with a dentist. Over a third had tried and failed to register with a doctor or dentist, and a third more had not received an invitation for routine cancer screening.

What does all this mean? Well, accessing health services will be harder afloat. But there is help out there. The Canal & River Trust is a great place to start, with a web of local contacts that can help you. And if your budget stretches to it, you could also consider private health and dental insurance.

Wellbeing

All sorts of studies have been published which show how boating can do you good. Engaging with nature helps to boost health and happiness, while the physical effort involved helps to keep you in good shape.

Unlike a seagoing yacht, where strength is required to raise sails and fight the helm, narrowboats are a gentler means of getting about. Concentration and modest skill will get you through most navigational situations, but you still need a bit of elbow grease to use a lock. Operating the sluices and then pushing the gates open and shut will give an easy workout.

Accessibility

Narrowboats have stairs between the fore/aft decks and the interior. So, life aboard requires a certain amount of climbing up and down. But living spaces on a boat are more compact than in a house or flat, so you won’t find yourself covering as much distance between the cabin and the galley, for instance.

Make sure you are happy with the gangplank system for getting ashore—a sturdy handrail or handholds here are a must, as is a non-slip surface.

If you have mobility issues, you don’t need to give up on the boating ambitions. Boats can be fitted with ramps or lifts for wheelchairs, and you can easily install a wider plank to get ashore.

The terrain alongside the canal won’t always be ideal for those who find it hard to get about, but towpaths are often broad and flat. The Canal & River Trust has a useful online map cataloguing barriers to access across the network England and Wales. And it also has a team of volunteer lock keepers who can assist boaters with a disability.

Packing up

Perhaps the final point to make is that you’ll need to do something with your existing home and belongings. It’s expensive to keep the place empty and in good condition, so factor in the time to sell or find a long-term letter. You may also need to sell, donate or put your bulkier belongings in storage. This can be a really useful weeding out process in its own right.

You’ve read this far, so you must be thinking hard about living on a narrowboat in retirement. That means you probably already know about the leisurely delights that await you on the waterways of the UK. With more than 2,700 miles of connected canals and 5,000 miles including navigable rivers, adventure awaits!

And if the commitment to a new lifestyle makes you quail, you could always dip a toe into the liveaboard life by turning to a long-term rental. Hiring a well-equipped boat by the month should prove much cheaper than a high-season holiday rental.

Specialist narrowboat insurance through Insure4Boats

If you're thinking about retiring to a narrowboat then you may want to consider specialist narrowboat insurance for that extra peace of mind.

With  Insure4Boats, the cover protects your boat against theft, accidental damage, malicious damage, and salvage charges.

You can also opt to include Third Party Liability and contents protection, so you have nothing to worry about when cruising the waterways.

Click here to discover more about how we can help, or get an instant online quote today.