Life Afloat.

Everyone who either has a boat for weekends, holidays or like us lives onboard full time gets asked the same thing by passers-by. Oh it must be such a wonderful life? These are the people who watch programs like "Waterworld" or "Locks and Quays", so they only ever see the sunshine, the glasses of wine enjoyed on the bow and happy smiley people. What they do not see is weather like we are experiencing at the moment. Living afloat is hard work and it is not always for the faint hearted. I am all about posting boating warts and all, so that people can see a true picture of life afloat. If this makes just one person realise that it is not necessarily for them then I have saved that person a fortune.

The reason for me saying all of the above, is because of some of the posts I have read this morning about people struggling to get water. Ian and Irene on NB Freespirit, managed to get water, but only after struggling to move the boat a few feet. BLOG. Then there was Al and Del on NB Derwent 6, who had to walk about a third of a mile to get water with a sack barrow BLOG. When we encounter this sort of weather, we all have to be prepared for anything to happen. It is not all about sunshine and Pimms on the bow. But I for one would not change a thing. I love the the rough with the smooth and I am quite happy to get down and dirty, which is what I did this morning, when Keith and I changed the filters on the generator, we also gave the generator an oil change, because it had been 200 hours since we had done the last one. So if your reading this and thinking you want to buy a boat, think very carefully about whether you would be able to cope in the icy conditions we are experiencing. I of course realise we do not get many winters like the past three, but you do need to think before you dish out your well earned cash and yes I know you can always go into a marina for the winter, but they also suffer with frozen water taps etc, so it is not all sweetness and light even on a winter mooring.

Chat soon xx