If you follow me on twitter (@chiswick_mum) you may have noticed that over the last month or so I've become rather fixated with the idea of getting a boat.
Not a weekend saunter up the river, Wind of the Willows style, boat. But a proper live in, porthole, pot plants on the bridge, boat. It's my solution to living in wonderful, wonderful chiswick, beating house prices, and being near the lovely river which we all adore.
Plus, if my indecisive nature gets the better of me, if I want to uproot us back up north in a few years, then I can just yell 'man the anchor' (or whatever it is salty seadogs shout) and we can sail up the river to Yorkshire.
Now some may say my plan has more holes than a Swiss cheese (or a dodgy boat on gumtree). For a start, kids and water don't mix outside of bath time, swimming pools and holidays.
Plus you have to haul them out of the water every few years (or so I understand from my limited research) to get their hulls looked at. This is a bit like an MOT for boats and – judging by the camper van fiasco of 2012, where I spent ~~sob~~ three grand on a van which broke down dramatically on the motorway on the WAY TO our holiday and has never seen the open road again, phew are you still reading this multi clause sentence – could render you homeless quickly.
People go on about the mooring fees, but to be honest, if you know what you're getting into that doesn't rally bother me. It's the unknown quantities which I find more cautionary.
We have done some beautiful walks up the river, surreptitiously staring into port holes and squinting into steering wheel rooms. I have yet to be brazen enough to go for a viewing via an estate agent, but it is only a matter of time before I cross that line.
Oh, then there's the financing. Boats aren't cheap and mortgage companies (apparently) laugh at you and call security if you ask about a boat mortgage (this may not be true. In fact I may have dreamt this last bit after eating too much Camembert one night.)But the upshot is you have to get the loan from a broker. With prices what they at, the price of a cheap boat can be as little (I use that word in the widest possible sense) as the cost of a deposit for a 'normal' flat.So do you know, or feel, anything about boats? Do you live on a boat with kids? I've found it really difficult to find any information from real families who are doing the urban boat lifestyle thang.
So get in touch if you do and fill me in!
And for you landlubbers our there – what do you think? Crazy idea or damn fine thinking? Let me know using the comments boxes that should be below!
Ahoy there me hearties…
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Can’t say the idea has never occurred to me… And there ARE bloggers who live this way, I know. By the way, when you said “…you have to haul them out…” I thought you meant the children, at first!
Lol
most hopefully not the kids….(that’s my main worry!)….hope some boaty bloggers get in touch….thanks for reading and commenting. 
i think its a lovely idea and i will read with great interest how it turns out. I shall live my dream through you until such as the time comes…..
Great Blog! Have you tried a boating holiday? I took my lot to the Norfolk Broads when they were children and they had a brilliant time (plus pub crawling along the river is a really bizarre and beautiful to do).
Mainly I would say to you what my Mum always said to me… in life you will find that you only regret what you never did’……
Trust your intuition and follow your dream. Or, in the words of Country singer Kathy Mattea, “Spread your wings, close your eyes and always trust your cape.”