'Living on a canal boat can be tough - but I don't want to live in a house'
A veteran canal boat driver is deeply in love with the cut, despite the many freezing, complex challenges of life on the UK's waterways.
Robbie Cumming, host of BBC Four's Canal Boat Diaries, has spent the past eight years on the water, living a happy life on the Naughty Lass.
For the latest season of the show he filmed himself travelling along 300 miles of the canal network on the 40-year-old boat, braving the dark and isolation of a bitter winter.
The musician is happy to battle through the hardships of thick river ice that trapped the Naughty Lass in Loughborough, someone robbing his phone during a trip to the pub, and his boat being flooded.
Robert told the Mirror he doesn't know how people "begin thinking about buying a house in London", but recognises not everyone can hack life on a canal boat, which is much more expensive than people think now that the "golden days" of bargain buys are gone.
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Robbie has been on the canals for eight years (Nathan Sandhu/BBC)He added: "No one I've met recently has been doing it because they can’t afford the cost of living. I have personally not found it a cheap way of living as I’m always out buying bespoke/non mass produced items; coal not subsidised like energy bills, private healthcare, launderette costs, and occasional mooring fees when I need to leave the boat for longer time periods.
"To work 9-5 and continuously cruise or maintain a boat on your own is near on impossible, so in the past I certainly have had to cut work hours to compensate.
"You can’t just go in and flick a switch and everything turns on - on some narrowboats you can but you still have to understand how it all operates and where various pumps and things are."
Robbie has been in love with canal boating since a friend leant him their vessel, which he said was an "awesome" experience that got him hooked.
"I love travelling and taking my home with me," he added. "To me boating isn’t a holiday or a retirement plan or just to have a laugh. It’s simply my life and also my job. That is something that a lot of people won’t be able to understand.
"I don’t want to live in a house. I want to explore my own country. I’m always aiming to show the real side of boating - and it doesn’t get much more real than at this time of year."
He travelled 300 miles of waterways in this season (Getty Images)This love is not extinguished by the challenges of living on the water, which had him seriously consider moving to dry land at the end of season three.
In his most recent televisual outing he takes on the tidal River Trent, which is impossible to stop on once you plunge in and threatens to sweep unwitting boaters all the way out to sea.
He also returned to the Naughty Lass one night in Kings Cross, London to find its windows smashed in.
Being on the canal side with thin windows mean "your ears prick up" whenever there's an unusual sound on the tow path nearby, he added.
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"If the fire is off it's very cold, so my golden rule is keep the fire going all the time," Robbie said. "Sometimes it is very cold onboard. It's 5C like a fridge."
Robbie says being on the canals is not for everyone (Nathan Sandhu/BBC)If the challenges of the waterways don't put you off - nor the fact that you'll have to fork out a significant amount to purchase anything that's "vaguely canal worthy" - then Robbie has the following tips.
"Slow down to the slowest speed when passing other boats, it will help you control the boat," he said.
"If someone is moored up go slow past them. You'll get respect for that. Be friendly and wave. We're not nasty people. I'll always wave back."
"Bring a book and some cards, the boat batteries are not really designed for living aboard. You can switch off even more then, it's all about getting away from it all.
"You will probably need waterproofs. It won't be sunny all the time. The tow paths are well muddy and some of the locks can be really heavy if you've got a bad back."
The main advantage of making it work on the canals is clear in Robbie's mind - access to nature.
"Because you’re surrounded by it. You’re floating in it. Just the other side of 5mm of steel and panes of glass you feel it all," he said. "The weather lashes down on you and the bugs fly in through the gaps in the windows. I once had a mink jump aboard.
"I saw it running in through the front so I ran around the other side and chased it out with a broom. A rat jumped on my roof and had a go at a bag of rubbish, should have seen it hurling itself overboard when I chased it. I didn’t know rats could fly!"
The new four-part series of BBC Four’s Canal Boat Diaries starts on 1 May at 7.30pm and will run Monday to Thursday.
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