Myles and I have been living on our 62-foot narrowboat for a year and a half now and we have
been continuously cruising from the very beginning so this story is not from us. Our friend Zoe stayed
over on Alba for about 10 days while we were away I'm gonna ask her a few questions and tell you
what she learned by living on a boat for 10 days I've been on a boat for almost a year and a half
i've got used to everything and for those of you who are watching the videos just trying to figure
out whether you want to get a boat or whether you're getting one you don't know what to expect
I think it's really useful for you to share your experience. You've never lived in a boat
before and what have you discovered and the first thing I noticed was the was the people
I have never waved so much in my life like there was just there's this wave policy
that that you didn't know existed on on the river, so every everyone waves it's like a mutual
acknowledgement that we're both on the river like I'm on a boat you're on a boat it's fantastic like
Hi guys that was the first thing that was quite like surprising the amount of people that wave
Everyone is really friendly when you're when you're on the river and I don't know if it's
because the people on the boats are people who have a boat are of a particular sort
of person maybe they are maybe people that live on the boats have adventurous tendencies
like they want to make the most out of life or maybe it's just because everyone
who is on the river is actually just really happy because because we're in the wildlife because
the river's here because admittedly when i was staying it was glorious sunshine so far pretty
much the whole two weeks it was amazing weather yeah everyone was friendly so that's the first
thing I noticed was the people the second thing that I really noticed was the amount of wildlife
that there was around and it was so fascinating to see all of the wildlife I mean just as i'm looking
here now i can just see swans in the distance when i'm making dinner or making a cup of tea
I'm just looking outside of the river and I can just see, I can see swans and there's signets
or there are lots of bugs there are lots of snails everywhere actually maybe because we were moored
for a considerable amount of time have there were lots of snails everywhere they might
have one of them yeah little tiny microscopic ones are really really small it's quite unusual I have to say
okay but i really paid attention to it and I'd get distracted I'd be like reading
a book or something and then or doing some yoga and then I'd see some wildlife
and I would be really mindful and present and fascinated by this wildlife that was just so close
to me that's never normally so close what else did I see? I saw ducks I saw some birds i
had no idea what they what they were dragonflies they were the most beautiful dragonflies they were
blowing my mind there was some really big ones there were um really brightly colored blue ones
I felt like I was camping I felt like I was camping I had everything that I needed here
on the boat it was really it was really magical I've been living in the country actually for
a for a couple... four months and I feel like I'm more connected to nature here on the boat
than I have been for the whole of the four months when I've been living in a converted cowshed
in fields so that's been quite a revelation actually the next thing that i noticed was the
sense of adventure that I had in like just doing day-to-day life stuff so just for a start like
getting to getting to the boat was fun I had to find a parking space and then um you know I had
to had to find the boat i had to you know come come off from the road and go on to the towpath
that in itself is an adventure climbing onto the boat is a mini adventure finding a way to get my
bike onto the boat like putting the plank putting a plank of wood from the bank onto the boat it
sounds really simple but if you've never lived on a boat before like it's it's these little things
that it's like oh that's a challenge am I going to be able to do that and then when you do it it's
like oh I did it I achieved that I got the boat I got the bike onto the boat and it's all great
Making a cup of tea is an adventure because like because of the wildlife I can see
going out I go when I'm out on my bike every day and exploring this new place that was fun that was
an adventure we just got really interrupted by a flying swan sorry guys it's the thing you get
you get interrupted you're doing something it's already fun and then you see like this this one
gliding past defying gravity um and it's so entertaining having a sense of adventure in
everyday life activities I could have had a shower on Alba but the pump is broken at the moment to
take away the water out from the shower and it's because it's been really great weather
you pointed me in the direction of swimming in the Thames and that's
something that I've never done before I've always thought I've always heard from my family
you know all the thames is sometimes dirty it's dangerous you know don't swim in the Thames
but actually like swimming in the Thames is glorious it's so much fun um I didn't find it
find it dirty at all I could it was clear I could see the fish swimming um so i bathed in the
Thames every day I went swimming I used natural soap and natural shampoo and conditioner
I felt so adventurous while doing that and I felt really connected to nature so that was I was lots
of fun my ten-year-old nephew came to stay with me for a couple of days he loved it he had so much
fun and he loved swimming in the Thames as well I noticed that when I first came onto the boat
I was quite timid about moving around the boat and I had some fear inside of me
from you know getting to the bank and getting onto the boat and getting onto the onto the top of the
deck and just I'm moving around and I think I've always felt that maybe I wasn't a boat person I've
always seen boats go past and I'd look at them and think oh you know those people are boat
people and i'm not a boat person I belong on land
but you just get used to it um and now i feel
so much more confident walking around the boat and it's you get to know like bits to hang on to
you get to know where to put your foot you get to know how to safely move around the boat i'm
still quite cautious about standing on the top of the deck but yeah I can I definitely feel
like I'm at home here and I can move around the boat. I really noticed my consumption
of water and water and food and then waste as well so there's you know we've got it at
home we've got everything plumbed in you know you go to the loo and you flush
it and it takes the waste away likewise if you buy in food products you just throw it in
the bin and then you leave the bin out and they take it away but here you know those services and
are not around you've got to do this all yourself so I was very conscious about how much
recycling that I had created how much how much rubbish that there was at the end of my stay
because we have to collect it all and you have to find a rubbish point to where to put it in
at the end of the day likewise, Alba has a composting toilet on board so I had
to get used to using that and I'd say it was a really pleasant experience it was a learning
experience emptying the composting toilet but it really made me mindful of again you know
how much how much I produce for me it's really important not to use chemicals and to use all
natural products and I'm really pleased that Alba has a composting toilet because I think
it really fits in with you know your lifestyle of leading an ethical lifestyle
but i was pleased to use it as well because I like to do that too.The last thing that I noticed was
how safe I feel on the boat as a single woman I guess I did have a little bit of trepidation
of how I would feel staying here on my own I'm quite aware that you know before right before I
came to stay on Alba the the river and canals at night time were a little bit, a little bit scary
for me you know I've actually I've lived in London for 12 years and I've lived in London by a canal
and I would not walk down the canal past a certain time of night so I've always thought that
it might be a bit scary but you know what I felt so safe at the first night I stayed on Alba I
was very aware about the noises there's Alba's got a dinghy, a rowing dinghy and it crashes it
bumps doesn't crash, it bumps against the side side of the boat and it makes some noise
so at the start you know you I was getting used to those noises and at the start I was like
oh what's that is there someone on the boat and then you know you just get used to the noises
and in the end, I felt really safe there are lots of other people around on boats so it's
it's like not a lonely existence at all in fact it's the opposite there are there are lots of
lots of people around either walking their dogs walking past or they've got a boat themselves
so I'd say actually it's a really great way to have some alone time and to feel like you're
in this you're a pr a private little bubble but yet also you've got the benefit of other people
being around and you're in this community of friendly people that are around to
like support you and say hello as well staying on Alba has made me consider getting a boat myself
I was I've got some time off at the moment and I was going to get a camper van and do some
travelling around the UK and I may still do that but staying on Alba and having this experience has
really made me think that at some point in my life I'm pretty sure that I'm going to buy
a narrowboat because once you've experienced it you're like wow this is what there's a wasp
can't unlearn it, can you? It's quite magical it's a really really interesting way to live and it's
it's just blew my mind. Have you had any negative moments like concerns, anything to mention
the only one that springs to mind was the spiders right there are a few spiders my
nephew is scared of spiders and he came to say and I had to be chief spider catcher
but you know that's added adventure and I did it and it was fine you know moving the boat
moving out there is something that's still very new to me I didn't move the boat
when I was when I was staying here since you've been back you've been teaching me how to how to
move the bow and how to cruise and do you know what I think it's I think it's doable for me
as a as a single woman I really think it is doable you've shown me you've shown me how to
do it and I've got faith that with a bit of practice that I could do that as well
you know when it rained a couple of times and I did wonder if that would if that would change
my change my views about about living on Alba because I love having the space on the on the
top where I do I did yoga every day and i spent a lot of time sitting on the top deck
and then it rained and I thought okay well I'm only gonna have like half of the space available
but I loved it I felt really cosy inside I loved being indoors and looking out in
the rain and actually like I went I went out in the rain as well because you know why not
that wasn't a downside that was just more fun really struggling to think of downsides
I'm very aware that my stay was in the you know two weeks in august and 30 degrees
Wasps! you have had the holiday weather that we pretty much never get so obviously it
was dry and stuff you didn't have to make any fire and I know that stuff but still I think
I think it's really useful for you guys to hear how it's been for you so thank you for sharing
This is Marigold I've had her for one week now and she is so much fun to drive
To cruise on and she's warm and cozy and she is everything that I wanted in a narrowboat
Thank you guys so much for watching I hope this was useful for you hit us in the comments and let
us know if you think, you're getting a boat and if you have any questions don't forget to click
the like button and subscribe to follow along our journey thanks guys see you in the next one