Living on a boat, off the grid, low-tech, freedom.
This is a listicle style blog documenting the renovation and maintenance of a 40", (12-metre-long) Steel Hull Narrowboat.
Scroll down to the bottom to read the most recent updates.
Traditionally these boats were used for the transport of bulk goods across the British Isles since the 18th century, (1700) using a network artificially constructed waterways we call canals. Since the early 1970’s these canals stopped being used for their intended purposes- Having been replaced fully by trains, planes & automobiles. So the almost five thousand miles of canals became the home to roughly fifty five thousand strong communities of nautical vagabonds. Next to no taxes, no reliance on the national electrical or heating grid, the freedom to relocate when ever you want. The closest one can come from retreating from society in the United Kingdom is by living on a boat.
Compare it to compound or trailer park life in America, we make our own communities.
The first journey after eight months alongside.
On the 1st of December 2025 I purchases a steel hulled narrowboat after departing the Royal Navy. It was in a state is disrepair due to the previous owner absent mindlessness. He had lived onboard the vessel for eight years & was rather relaxed regarding the maintenance required to keep water bound craft in the best of conditions. However the hull was in good shape, bulkheads (walls) watertight and the engine was functional- everything you need to sail out. Toilet, log burner & gas oven all worked too. Shower & taps were none functional but some faults are to be expected with any purchase of what is essentially a mobile home.
To play catch up for the lack of past maintenance I arranged for the boat to be lifted out of the water at a dry dock facility. This is so the hull could be re-blackened- a process where the underside of the boat is coated with bitumen to project the steel from abrasion. Alongside the installation of new Anodes- sacrificial blocks of Magnesium which react to the water’s natural electrical currents. They corrode instead of the steel, if there are Anodes present the rest of the boat endures. It will under go a engine & gearbox service too- to ensure safety & longevity.
The journey was only 17 miles. Not far, right? Only the boats top speed is a mindboggling 4mph and due to the lack of use- old dirty filters, loose fittings etc I could only push the engine to 2 ½mph.
The journey took us through 38 locks- water elevators designed to raise the boat up or down inclines, each taking around 10-20 minutes to operate as the process of emptying and filling the locks sadly varies depending on the locks condition. Some of these locks are over 100 years old, others were renovated 25 years ago.
No motorised help, it’s all relies on physics & is a two person Job. One opens & closes the gates, raised or lowers the water level as another sails in & out of each lock. In the End the journey took three days- six hours of sailing per day.
Now fortunately the old canal system left a series of traditional pubs littered across the network, many having been modified into hotels after the industry dried up. This means you can almost always obtain a hot meal every four-to-five mile down the trail. Along with this some of the old lock houses have been converted into cafés and local tourist traps. Where in America, Australia and other large countries have truck stops we have boating pubs which was a big boost to moral as we travelled. Mooring overnight was as easy as finding a free mooring- there are no limits on single night stays only long-term moorings.
The boat is now at the dry dock, has been for two weeks now. Poor weather has hindered all the maintenance but once it’s returned to myself I’ll post updates regarding all of repairs.
Renovating the exterior.
With the boat safely at the Drydock it was taken out of the water so it's hull can be reblackened, as mentioned above it's done using bitumen. The process is simple, the prevous layer is sand blasted off and a new layer is applied. This is to add protection against wear and tear whlst sailing, it scatches off when impacting debris in place of the steel hull itself. You'll also notice the two magnesium Anodes, one is new whilst the other was inherited from the previous owner. These are sacrifical metal blocks that prevent galvanic corrosion of the hull beneath the bitumen should that be worn away. There are four on the bow, two on the stern and they'll melt away completely after a few years. Untill they're gone you have protection against passive corrossion.
With the lower hull reblackened I worked towards renovating the rest of the exterior. That meant alot of sanding by hand ;~; I couldn't afford to have the hull profesionally painted so I did it all myself and I'll be honest I only removed the previous paint that easily broke away, meaning the end result is a little uneven. The paint came recomended me by the staff at the drydock. Jotun Conseal TU. a 20L can costed £240 but it coated the whole boat (three layers thick) with some remaining to patch up any scratches and scrapes I'll inevitably make during my travels.
And once everything had dried she was lowered into the water. I added some instustrial rubber to the flooring of the front deck and paintd the door & interior of said front deck using anti-rust paint. Nothing special just store brought as it was only ever going to be an accent colour to the primary lilac. I haven't got arround to removing & re-adding anti-slip surrfaces that surround the hull but that's something I can do slow time. I'll post beauty shots at a later date but in the meanwhile I think the Boat is progressing nicely.