It’s true! And there are numerous factors for this. So lets start with Steel, it rusts and rusts and rusts… I remember when we first started the renovation of OB, and in particular the bathroom. Hidden away underneath the floor was a little area that had become a depression and somewhere for condensation to pool. Once we had started to clean it I was literally horrified to find layers and layers of rust. And after cleaning it all out, treating the rust, painting and rust proofing. I just couldn’t get it out of my head what a fight against time living on a boat is. There is the obvious transiant feeling of a life aboard, being able to move and relocate on a whim, but there is also the transient nature of your actual home. The constant battle to reduce the inevitable decay, and this is something that you must prioritise.

And to help you deal with this stress and reduce your anxiety, I shall impart a crucial narrowboat life nugget of wisdom, and that is that 1cm of rust is equal to 1mm of steel. I wish I had known this when I had been contorted into the tiny spaces of the gas locker, water tank, engine bay and thinking that a few more layers of scraping rust and I would be through the hull!

This was the rotten floor that ‘wasn’t’ supporting our water tank!

Inside the battle is just as immediate. There is a gradual understanding of just how quickly the boat can become untidy and tatty. This has intensified with Shell working from home full time and the adjustments that this has led to. As you may have seen in our last Vlog, three years of living in OB and she is beginning to show her age. There are also the unfinished projects, and the annual maintenance schedule that needs to be completed. This weekend (Friday afternoon actually) I’m going to get the ventilation improvements done in the bedroom and a little bit of re-painting completed. But after that, there is the rest of the list, and after that list there will be another and so on and so on. My advice is to concentrate and prioritise the actual boat structure jobs, these must always be near the top of the list.

Another piece of understanding is that every boat is different. There is no one size fits all on a narrowboat. Walls and integrated structures are all bespoke. These things aren’t a consideration when you first float away especially in a second hand boat, the heady feelings of adventure and new beginnings over-riding the damp smell emanating from under the bed, the mildew engrained in the bedroom cabinets or the rust trails running down your chimney. You will have to discover all this, and not allow those ‘Oh my god what have I done’ feelings to escalate.

So keep all of your projects bite sized. For instance, “we need to do the engine bay”! By that I mean we must -

Remove everything from the engine bay
Grind down all rusted metal surfaces
Treat all rust
Primer all exposed metal and rub down
Paint all metal surfaces
Reinstall soundproofing and tidy all cabling
Sand and treat all wood - Paint where neccessary
Carpet all wooden surfaces
Design, build and install Engine Bay storage
Keep engine bay tidy and be prepared to do this all again in a couple of years!

Rust in the engine bay when we first purchased OB

What we have found is that any project has a very productive by-product. So take the engine bay example above. Number 1 is remove everything from the enging bay. This may seem inoccuous, but it’s a fantastic opportunity to do some de-cluttering. All the things that you are about to touch can be judged whether they are useful, needed or are a ‘space stealer’ And thats the biggest takeaway that I hope you glean from this blog. To really enjoy those times when there isn’t a drop of wind, the Sun is shining, birds are singing and you haven’t a care in the world, you need to keep on top of the job list and it is never ending…..

Dreaming of getting all the jobs done and getting out for more adventures

Narrowboat jobs