A couple who sold their three-bedroom house to live on a narrowboat full time have revealed all about their lifestyle.
Paul and Anthony Smith-Storey opted to ditch land for life on the canal back in October 2020 after selling their home.
‘We’d nearly paid our mortgage off, and we thought, what’s the point, we have no kids who are we going to leave it to? Let’s have a bit of fun,’ Paul, 57, exclusively tells the Daily Mail.
They were inspired to take the leap and bought a brand new boat after meeting a woman who had made the same lifestyle move and told them ‘it was the best thing she’d ever done’.
Since then, the couple of 25 years haven’t looked back and now enjoy sailing around the country with their Labradoodle called Sebastian.
‘We live full time on the canals, we’re continuous cruisers, so we don’t have a home mooring, which means that we just keep moving all the time and exploring the canals,’ Paul explains.
‘But we love it, and we couldn’t imagine going back to a house to be honest.’
However, the former magician reveals there’s one downside to life on the boat, and it involves the toilet.
Paul and Anthony Smith-Storey opted to ditch land for life on the canal back in October 2020 after selling their home
Since then, the couple of 25 years haven’t looked back and now enjoy sailing around the country with their Labradoodle called Sebastian
However, the former magician reveals there’s one downside to life on the boat, and it involves the toilet
‘We can dispose of grey water, which is water from your sink when you’re doing your dishes, and water from your shower,’ Paul says.
‘But your toilet, you’ve got to clean your toilet out every week.’
Paul adds: ‘Some people have a pump-out, which is done at a paid point, usually in a marina, we have a separator or compost toilet, which we think is the best option for a continuous cruiser.’
A separator toilet works by splitting solid and liquid waste into different compartments.
The liquid waste is often disposed of at specific locations, while the solid is composted.
Paul describes other challenges to boat life, including having to maintain the blacking on the hull, and occasionally bumping into a ‘grumpy boater’.
Despite this, the couple still love their way of life and even think it will be a permanent move.
‘We have said we think it could be easier in a house, but we would really miss this lifestyle,’ Paul explains.
Paul adds, ‘Some people have a pump-out, which is done at a paid point, usually in a marina, we have a separator or compost toilet, which we think is the best option for a continuous cruiser.’
Despite this, the couple still love their way of life and even think it will be a permanent move
‘And we said, as we get older and maybe we can’t operate the locks, we would probably get a linear mooring somewhere, but we can’t imagine going back to bricks and mortar.’
The couple have found a community on the canal, and Paul describes it as a ‘linear village’.
He adds: ‘We’ve made so many amazing friends and you go along the canal and because we’ve been doing it for five years, you get to know more and more boaters, and people say it’s like a long it’s like a linear village, and it really is.
‘People are so willing to help you out.’
The pair share their canal stories on their YouTube channel, Narrowboat Life Unlocked, and Anthony works as a sonographer while Paul creates wildlife art.
As for their favourite spots to drop the anchor, Paul shares they enjoy the Llangollen canal in Wales.
‘We spent three winters in Llangollen basin, and it’s about a 20 mile stretch of canal,’ he says.
‘It’s got a flow on it, which most canals don’t have, so it doesn’t tend to freeze, although it did do a couple of years ago.’
The couple have found a community on the canal, and Paul describes it as a ‘linear village’
Winter brings its own challenges to canal life too, and Paul reveals they were frozen in for 11 days on one occasion
Paul adds, ‘You go over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which is the highest aqueduct in the world.
‘It’s a really beautiful little town, and it’s just magical. At Christmas, they’ve got the steam train running, so we’ve done that for three years in a row, and it’s just a lovely place to be in winter.’
Winter brings its own challenges to canal life too, and Paul reveals they were frozen in for 11 days on one occasion.
‘We were frozen in for 11 days a couple of years ago, and it was our favourite time on the canal,’ Paul says.
‘We’ve got all the winter migratory birds flying over, we’ve got the snow on the ground. It was crisp and beautiful sunsets and sunrises and no boat traffic, nobody going past.’
Despite toilet cleaning, frozen canals and any other challenges narrowboating brings, the couple adore their time on the water.
‘We absolutely love the lifestyle,’ Paul gushes.
