Houseboats

sbkenn

I am interested to find out ... how many(other) people would be interested in living on a houseboat if moorings and facilities were available. What facilities would you expect, and any other factors or reservations would you have.

gabigeist

Yeah, keen on this too. There seems to be lots of unused moorings in Grand canal basin.
1) I believe the ESB won't hook up barges.
2) It seems to be a pain moving a barge through Dublin.

Apart from that... ANYONE?

sbkenn

Waterways Ireland doesn't know what the opposite end is doing. The executives think they are openning up the waterways, while the people that the public deal with seem to be obstruction them.

deadwood

A lot depends on where you want to locate. I don't know about the canals, but they're a bit of a bugbear of some people on the Shannon.

Personally, I think it's a good thing to have people living on the water as they, by their nature, are enviromentally aware and will keep an eye on other boats and property.

Houseboats tend to take up a lot of moorings, though, and Waterways will keep moving you on in some busier areas, especially in busier periods.(They love those bloody window stickers!) I know a guy who "commutes" to his gin palace, moored on the river but off the navigation, with his dinghy.

Power and water are not too difficult to organise. I know another guy who gets his power from the local rowing club (he uses very little anyway). He keeps an eye on their property for them. He fills his water tank from the hose on the bank.

I know of a few people doing this quite happily but they are all single men! They have all the comforts of home. No property booms or crashes to worry about and stress isn't in their vocabulary!

Slig

The idea seems great but you are essentially living in a damp tin can. I would expect alot of colds and flu, insects and I wouldnt be looking forward to winter, also hanging a picture could spell disaster:D. That aside I cant imagine anything nicer than waking up, looking out the window(porthole) and seeing flat calm water all around you.

Tabnabs

It's damp if you don't have a dehumidifier and it's cold unless you have some form of heating. There are solutions to every problem you will come across, but usually the best one is to head south!

dlofnep

Just past a guy living on a houseboat tonight on my way back to the marina. We have Electricity and running water at our Marina, so I'd imagine it's easy for him to live there. It was quite an impressive houseboat - looked very comfortable, but I can't imagine he had fun in it yesterday with that storm.

Interesting idea.

dlofnep

Good blog here from someone's experience living on one: http://www.geocities.com/BILL_DIETRICH/MyLifestyle.html