Living on the Water - a change of lifestyle for 2018

It's not such a crazy idea

Here in England more and more people are buying up narrow boats and moving onto the water as full time live aboards.

There seem to be two distinct types of boater and they are:

Those in Permanent Moorings

Taking advantage of cheap living costs in comparison to living in a bricks and mortar house whilst retaining the fixed address (or semi-fixed - moving on is always an option..) for work or other reasons.
On top of the mandatory CRT License (see below) many people chose to pay a monthly mooring fee - anything from a few £100 to £1500 a year depending on the location, facilities and length of vessel. The permanent mooring could be anything from the bottom of a farmer's field to a prime location inner city marina.

Continuous Cruisers

No mooring costs, just the Canal & Rivers Trust License (currently £775 a year for a 40' boat) which allows you to moor for free anywhere on the rivers and canals. The only stipulation as a continuous cruiser is that you keep on moving around the waterways and not stay in one area for more than two weeks.

It's the freedom and adventure that appeals to me

Option 2 - the life of a Continuous Cruiser is the one for me, it's the perfect balance between dropping out of society and still having some security there.

So the plan, come Spring, is to sell the house and all the >>STUFF<< in it, buy a boat and then head off into the unknown for at least 12 months. Do lots of paintings of the changing scenes and seasons, get in adventures, see my country...