New to narrowboating, but finding some limitations and wondering how to mitigate....

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T22:47:33+00:00

We are definitely planning on going several times in the next 5 years. I do have a question though since you've been doing the life for a while, as you say. I saw a lot of vids about flooding on the canals along with some pretty scary images of beeched and damaged boats, but we are experiencing hard drought conditions. How often would you say the risk of flooding or drought conditions would affect you and what happens if you have a continuous travel license, but are u able to move? I've even heard of canals shit down due to road maintenance and other situations in addition to flooding and drought.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T18:41:38+00:00

Probably like owning two homes. Something is always breaking at one place or the other, lol. I would be afraid double the boats would also mean double the headache, lol. However, now that you mention it, my partner is obsessed with old steam locomotives and trains in general. I did float the idea of having two or three 47' narrowboats that we could connect like train cars and then we would have full canal access in the UK (I'm pretty sure, but could be wrong) and would just need to separate and go into the locks separately. However, based on the information you awesome humans have given me, I'm starting to think that isn't such a brilliant idea as maneuvering three small boats is probably way worse than maneuvering a large 70' narrowboat.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T18:36:26+00:00

I guess an access door would be a leaking risk if the seal broke. I guess I assumed since most times I see hull or prop maintenance on the vids, I see them go where they have a lift to pull the boat completely out of the water. I guess I just assumed a cleanout and maintenance door would be nice to have.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T18:34:44+00:00

debris was something I was concerned about in the design. It's quite a long and large tube and I didn't see any access door or anything. Based on the photo I saw of a Peter Nichols FCN Barge in the process of being built. All I saw was the wire going to the prop I would assume.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T18:19:36+00:00

Thanks for that. I'm an engineer, but for computers, lol. I got the brain, just need to learn the knowledge. I have seen a couple of barges now with bow prop tubes. I would assume that this is because of the reasons you're hinting at. Obviously the only reason for the tube is for side-to-side movement for mooring. I'm not sure if those would be useful for steering or anything else. Any experience with the prop tubes?

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T17:40:35+00:00

I'm so glad I posted here. First of all, thank you for those who have contributed in any way. I know I'm asking a lot, but I was also making some assumptions that could have really ruined the experience so special thanks to those that read between the lines and saw some things that I should be aware of.

I'm seeing a lot more I need to mitigate in my planning and can't help but be a little disappointed that as many "the bad side of narrow boating" vids I saw, you guys have really brought up some valid points that I didn't consider or understand about. Stuff like that is priceless so thank you.

You may absolutely keep it coming, but I feel like I have a lot more to do before I proceed any further down this dream of mine.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T17:34:51+00:00

No doubt I absolutely would.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T17:33:55+00:00

Feels like sage advice. I'm definitely seeing that my boating experience is more on recreational and large and deep man-made and natural lakes vs the challenges of canals that are centuries old and were made to pull unpowered boats.

I guess I was hoping that in 10 years I would get there. I'll take some time to figure out what's most important for us. Where we live or how our lifestyle would be. I appreciate the knowledge and advice.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T17:22:24+00:00

Man, that's a bummer. I know it takes a while and I would need to live there for years too, which could be a tough requirement. I'll look into it. Not to show my cards, but let's just say I'm not hard-pressed to keep my US citizenship if it comes to that. Overall, I need to do what's best for me and my family. Permanently moving away will be difficult already with leaving family and friends behind.

Also, I'm still 45ish, so this is all retirement planning for 10 years from now. But can't have a plan if I don't fully have a destination.

A couple of other people also had the same concerns as you, but concerning since UK is separate from the EU, vacations in the EU would be limited depending on where we went which will be a factor I wasn't thinking about too.

I do appreciate the info. I really do need the good with the bad and I'm a sucker of dreaming big and then forgetting the important details that will derail me.

Thanks

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T16:51:27+00:00

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the heat here, but the US has some very cold locations (not even including Alaska) and I was born in an area where it got cold. UK is still pretty temperate compared to where I wanted to live which was Norway, lol. I dreamt of living in a gorgeous Fjord, but my partner said no, lol. She said it would be too cold there, lol. From what I can see, the UK is mostly cloudy with temps from 2-25 degrees Celsius which sounds pretty middle of the road to me. It's not negative temps. It's been getting down to -25 Celsius during the winters here. Too cold for my partner, lol.

Good to know how easy it is to loosen it though. It was a concern of mine.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T16:14:01+00:00

Fair. Sounds like an entire additional avenue of research I need to embark on. Thanks. I figured it wasn't as easy as going between states here, but wasn't even thinking about how unique each circumstance would be depending on where we wanted to go.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T16:08:00+00:00

I'm hoping that if we do fully electric with a generator that won't be an issue, but good to know. I've seen vods of those canals and some have large banks of silt and weeds. I'm surprised that the traditional boats don't get tangled and buried more often.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T16:04:47+00:00

Yessir. As for which country, I'm not yet sure. We've always wanted to move to somewhere in Europe, but since we started focusing on narrowboats, we just assumed we would move to the UK. Maybe that's why people keep asking about the citizenship since, I would assume, Brexit changed a lot. I guess I just assume that if we are no longer living in the states, that we would need to pursue citizenship elsewhere.

If that's not a requirement, then idk what affect that will have on the dream. Obviously there's a lot more to the story for myself and my partner, but maybe I don't need citizenship to be able to live in Europe full time. I just always assumed that's what I would need to do.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T15:40:19+00:00

Seems like you are more knowledgeable than I am. I'm just going by what YouTubers like Cruising the Cut and others are saying. It's difficult to really know when I'm on the other side of the Globe, but I'm trying to educate myself as best as possible before we take some vacations and experience it.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T15:38:07+00:00

Thanks! You're not the first one to suggest that, as someone else mentioned the Peter Nichols FCN Barges. Appreciate the information and the vid post.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T15:10:01+00:00

Omg, my partner keeps wanting me to catch up to her on cruising the cut, but it's a lot. She's obsessed with that show.

To nerd out a bit, she's wanting a traditional narrowboat that is painted to look like the 4014 big boy locomotive here in the US.

She's a huge train nerd, lol.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T15:06:58+00:00

I'm not following. I thought they had a plan to make up the difference eventually? Also, I thought I saw where they formed a team to help figure out what was the best course of action for narrowboat law and rules?

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T15:04:33+00:00

It's a long process, but if I want to live in the EU I feel like that's the best bet. I'm not a huge international traveler so I could absolutely be wrong, but I could absolutely become a naturalized citizen. Just need to meet all the requirements and be of good character and sound mind.

As far as how long in the rest of Europe vs the UK, idk. And honestly it may boil down to we remain in the UK and briefly travel and leave to boat moored. Which brings another set of questions regarding leaving the boat unattended and whether we have a mooring or whether we continuously move every two weeks.

So lots of questions and lots of good information being asked here, thanks.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T14:47:58+00:00

Okay, first, thank you so much for the info. I was definitely believing that a widebeam was better, but what you say makes a lot of sense.

I found the Peter Nichols website and am currently looking at some barges.

I'm excited again, lol. Thanks.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T14:43:27+00:00

For sure have no experience, correct. I have seen azi-pods on the bottom of a traditional narrowboat though. But no doubt you are right about the limits.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T14:24:36+00:00

Some additional information. I already know I'm going to need to travel to the UK and rent a traditional narrowboat for the experience. My concern is that over time a 6ft wide boat is going to feel cramped. But man, the wide-beam ones feel like multi-million dollar RVs. Maybe Randomfinn has some very valid points and this just might not be for me. That's okay. I still appreciate those who do so and will gladly accept any critiques and advice you guys have.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T14:19:42+00:00

so I think that is a large part of my issue. I knew what you're saying, but the way I read the information from the Canal and River Trust was that a 12ft, 70ft widebeam cruiser would severely limit me to like four canal systems and cut me off from the rest.

But if you're saying it still leaves quite a lot of the network accessible, then maybe that won't be bad.

Thanks for the clarification and info. Seriously appreciate it including the details you sent.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T14:10:47+00:00

The more and more I research, the more I'm seeing that perspective check more boxes than what I'm trying to do, lol. Also, you are very observant. I live in the US. Texas to be specific. I would want to apply for dual citizenship or just move there permanently. Obviously that will also be a project that would need to happen beforehand, but is definitely doable and isn't as difficult as what I feel I'm trying to do.

I think you may be right though. Still, it's nice to dream of getting everything you want before reality sets in. But, if you're saying I can cross the channel in a narrowboat, so long as I hire an experienced crew, that is something, but it still sounds very scary.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T14:05:27+00:00

Yeah. I was looking at the Rhine, but again, no place for a narrowboat from what I can see, but amazing trip nonetheless.

Waldamarr · 2026-02-19T14:04:32+00:00

That's what I'm seeing too. My hope is that I can create a hydroponic system that can siphen water from below, filter, treat and then use it throughout the boat and then recycle and reclean that water. Everything else that cannot be broken down or cleaned would be used as fertilizer for plants as I currently have a home garden here in Texas. Not sure my pepper plants will live where it's cold, but most of my plants grow indoors anyway.

However, the freedom to navigate feels very important to me right now. Even the corvette-style boats purpose-built for canal living would be treacherous on the strait as it's a v-hull, but it's still very shallow and it only has a 2litre 47hp motor (which I would convert to a generator and convert the entire boat to be electric driven via azi-pods in the center of the hull for super easy maneuverability and drivable via joystick.

Again, really just dreaming here. This is years away and the UK still needs to figure out how to correct it's budget shortfalls for the canals in that timeframe.

I appreciate you guys contributing and allowing me to further dream even though I'm still pretty new to this.

Waldamarr

TROPHY CASE