{"product_id":"narrowboat-liveaboard-kit","title":"Living on the Cut — The Honest Narrowboat Liveaboard Kit","description":"\u003ch3 dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold\"\u003eLiving on the Cut — The Honest Narrowboat Liveaboard Kit\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI nearly bought the wrong boat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eShe was beautiful. 57ft, reverse layout, multifuel stove, \"recently blacked.\" The seller was lovely. I'd already picked out where the plants would go.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThen the surveyor pulled a reading off the baseplate and went quiet in a way I'll never forget. Overplating hiding forty years of neglect. Walking away cost me a £600 survey. Not walking away would've cost me about £9,000 and my first year afloat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThat was the moment I realised something about this life: \u003cstrong\u003eeveryone tells you how lovely it is. Almost nobody tells you how it actually works.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eSo I wrote it down. All of it. Eighteen months of research, fourteen marina phone calls, three surveys, one bad viewing after another, and then — finally — our first year living aboard Mabel. The mistakes, the numbers, the stuff the YouTube couples film around.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis isn't a book about dreaming of narrowboats. It's the book for the moment it gets real.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold\"\u003eWhat's actually inside\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe main guide\u003c\/strong\u003e — written like I'm sat across from you in the pub, because that's how I wish someone had told me:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul dir=\"ltr\" class=\"[li_\u0026amp;]:mb-0 [li_\u0026amp;]:mt-1 [li_\u0026amp;]:gap-1 [\u0026amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [\u0026amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3 print:block print:space-y-1\"\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe boat that nearly ruined us.\u003c\/strong\u003e How to read a listing like a surveyor. What \"recently blacked\" is hiding. The 12 questions that make a dodgy seller sweat. Why the survey is the cheapest expensive thing you'll ever buy.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe rule nobody can explain.\u003c\/strong\u003e The 14-day rule and \"continuous cruising\" in plain English — what CRT actually enforces, what's a myth, and what's changing between now and 2028 (the rules of this lifestyle are being rewritten as we speak — if you're buying this year, you need to know this bit).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe real ledger.\u003c\/strong\u003e My actual year one, line by line. Licence (and the surcharge that's climbing every April). Insurance. Blacking. BSS. Coal. Diesel. The breakdown fund. The number is bigger than the dream and smaller than rent — but only if you see it coming.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMooring or moving.\u003c\/strong\u003e Marina, farm mooring, or the towpath life — the honest trade-off between money, freedom and knackering yourself. And why this decision matters more than which boat you buy.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWhere to actually live.\u003c\/strong\u003e This is the chapter you won't find anywhere else. Twenty stretches of the network rated for real life — working, wintering, walking to a Lidl, getting a GP, raising a dog, and where mooring pressure will make your life a misery. Every other guide teaches you to run a boat. This one tells you where to put it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe first winter.\u003c\/strong\u003e Condensation. The 6am stove. The frozen water tank. The Elsan run in the rain. Winter is what makes people quit — this chapter is why we didn't.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBecoming a person with no address.\u003c\/strong\u003e Post, GP, bank, insurance, broadband for working aboard, where the car lives. The boring stuff that breaks people.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e6am in November.\u003c\/strong\u003e What it actually feels like. The bad and the good. Because I'd rather lose a sale than have you buy a boat on Instagram photos.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe toolkit\u003c\/strong\u003e (print these, use them, thank me later):\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul dir=\"ltr\" class=\"[li_\u0026amp;]:mb-0 [li_\u0026amp;]:mt-1 [li_\u0026amp;]:gap-1 [\u0026amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [\u0026amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3 print:block print:space-y-1\"\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003ePre-purchase viewing checklist — take it to the boat, tick it off in front of the seller\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003eYear-one cost calculator — put your own numbers in, get your real annual figure\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003eThe seller question script\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e14-day movement log template\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003eWinter prep checklist — do it in October, not December\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch4 dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold\"\u003eFree updates. Forever.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eLicence fees change every April. The mooring rules are under review right now. Buy this once and every update lands in your inbox free, for as long as I'm afloat. Nobody else in this space does that, because nobody else has to live by these rules.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold\"\u003eWho this ISN'T for\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eIf you've been aboard ten years, you know most of this — this is the book you'd hand your mate who keeps asking about it. And if boat life is just a nice daydream, keep daydreaming for free, honestly. This is for the person who's already on Apollo Duck at 2am. You know who you are.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e£19.99.\u003c\/strong\u003e The survey that saved me cost £600. The mistake it caught cost £9,000. This is the cheapest thing you'll buy on the way to the water.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e— Jess (and Mabel)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Roots \u0026 Routes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57822775247230,"sku":null,"price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0942\/8218\/7134\/files\/00-thumbnail-final.png?v=1786275248","url":"https:\/\/rootsand-routes.com\/products\/narrowboat-liveaboard-kit","provider":"Roots \u0026 Routes","version":"1.0","type":"link"}