... that is those of you who are fronting it out on the cut. I was down at my boat the other night and spoke to a couple of the live-a-boards on our moorings. Their current best friend is their wheelbarrow. Moving water, gas diesel, wood, coal, food. Some of them are moored quite a way down from the locks and the cars so it is a real journey. They are getting through their fuel of choice at an alarming rate, one boater has used all but 7 of his 30 winter coal bags.
One of the real hardy boaters is still fitting out her boat whilst living aboard and it was -2c with the fire lit.
Interesting how this will affect the perception of living on the cut, three links to show the feelings and impacts...
Maffi
Narrowboat World
NB Windsong
Then there will be those boaters who will return to their boats in the spring to what level of damage... cost, inconvenience and time to repair will no doubt also impact on their resolve to stay on the cut.
For me its a challenge and I'd love to spend more time aboard. For sure I will be there over Christmas with my wheelbarrow !
Stay safe
Nev
(edited to add another casualty)
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2 comments:
Hi
We're fairly new to boating and this will be our second winter with a narrowboat. last year we wintered down and emptied the water and the only casualty was the water filter attachment which we had overlooked. It was a glass canister filled with tiny bits of charcoal which exploded after freezing. Very messy but better than burst pipes. This year we have built a line of low wattage 'greenhouse' heaters and left them in the boat on a freezer thermostat, hopefully that will work. this is only good however if you have access to mains power.
We will see in January if it has worked.
I am still a bit apprehensive though but it hasn't put us off yet.
Cheers and stay warm
Ali (nb Tormentil, on the Leeds and Liverpool)
Ali,
I hope the plan works and you get aboard and back to enjoying the boat rather than sorting out frost damage, albeit small stuff.
Take care
nev
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