Why Did We Choose Narrowboat Life as a SingleParent Family?

Living on a narrowboat is a lifestyle that's often seen as being calm, tranquil and idyllic. But what's it really like for a single parent to raise three children on the British waterways? My name's Andy and I live with my three children on this 50-foot narrowboat. When I first bought narrowboat Inchi, I was a single man and my children were simply visiting me at weekends. However, in September 2024 the boys tragically lost their mum and they came to live with me full-time. And that's when the chaos really began. And suddenly I'm more than just the weekend dad. I'm the first to admit that what I was doing before was not real parenting. And as if single parenting isn't hard enough as it is, we were doing it all from a six-foot wide home. And while battling with the grief of the boys losing their mother, if there was ever a time for a dad to step up, this was it. I learnt one thing really quickly and that's the children are some of the most resilient people you will ever meet. And the children adapted to life on the boat like they were made for it. So here we are just a year into living life as a single parent family on a boat and what better time to really share my story. So this is my invitation to you to really join us as we navigate this way of life. So alongside our usual social channels such as Instagram and TikTok, show us some love and hit that subscribe button here. So welcome to the very first episode of the four boys on a boat YouTube channel. For those of you that don't know me, my name's Andy and I'm known better online as four boys on a boat. For the past eight months, I've been sharing my experience and my life online, mostly using Instagram and TikTok. However, a reoccurring theme keeps coming up. When are you going to start doing YouTube? So here we are the very first episode of what I hope to be many, many more. But let's start off by telling you my story. My journey onto boat life starts way back in 2015. At the time I was living in a traditional house running a business and was extremely successful. We made good money, we had a nice car, we had a nice house. The boy's mum was able to stay at home and be a full-time parent while I went out and provided for the children. However, in April 2015, my life was torn to pieces when my 22-month-old son Edward died suddenly. I very suddenly realised that during his short life, really all I did was go to work. And while I was providing for my children, I wasn't present for my children. My entire mindset shifted and I went on a hunt for something more present. Now this change didn't happen overnight. For years I struggled with my grief, I struggled with depression, I was angry at the world but knew deep down I needed to find something different. I needed to find something more real. Ultimately this led to my wife and I separating and I decided that was the perfect time to put some work into being the best version of myself that I can. No matter how much work I put in, all the therapy, all the meditation, all the mindset practice, I still knew that I needed something more present and I still knew that I needed to slow down. And for a time period this actually meant I probably saw my other children less. Suddenly separating from my wife meant that I was a part-time dad, I was a weekend dad. The boys would come and visit me at the weekend and it was great but it wasn't true parenting. And then one day I was walking my dog down the canal and I saw narrowboats. I instantly knew that boat life was perfect for me and I did a deep dive into what it would look like to live on a boat. I looked at the costs, I looked at the struggles and I looked at the reality too. And actually many YouTube accounts like this really paved the way for me to be able to do this and eventually I made it happen. Originally moving onto a 70 foot boat with my ex-girlfriend and then when we split up finding myself this lovely 50 foot home that was perfect for a single man on his own. Boat life was truly a way for me to slow down. It gave me an opportunity to work less, to spend more time in nature and to live the sort of life that I really felt was true to me. However that wasn't the end of the grief and in September 2024 my boys sadly lost their mum and moved in full-time with dad on his boat. At first I thought there was no way we could do boat life as a family of four especially not in this small 50 foot home. However after two weeks of being put in emergency housing I knew straight away the place we needed to be was out on the water. The boat wouldn't just provide my children with a warm home, it would provide them with the therapy and freedom that I needed after my own grief. So we set about in converting this small 50 foot boat into a family home for four. For the first few weeks three of us climbed into one double bed while my eldest son slept on the sofa and while it felt like camping for a while we knew that this wasn't a long-term plan. So we had to set out in converting the boat into something that would work for all of us. That double bed was converted into two singles for my two smaller boys, the sofa was converted into a bed for me and Oliver who was 13 years old got his own 27 foot boat that we tow alongside. Not only was this space important for us all but as a teenager let's face it you need your own space from your brothers from time to time and we managed to find the perfect little boat that we could tow along with us and could be a permanent bedroom for him. Also opening up the sofa area for me to have my own space as well and I'd love to tell you that was it happily ever after floating down the canal in an idyllic lifestyle but life isn't that simple and being a single parent is absolute chaos from time to time wherever you live. I'm not here to show you perfection I'm here to show you reality. So with that in mind let's take a look around the boat. Before I show you around it's an absolute mess so let's get it tidied. So typically after promising to show you guys around the day got away from me and with it now being the weekend it's a slow start to the day and let's face it any work I put into cleaning the boat has already gone out the window. Nevertheless I'd love to show you around our home right after I've had the all-important morning coffee. So our boat has got what's called a reverse layout and that means you enter via the stern directly into the kitchen. We're really lucky to have a fully equipped kitchen four hobs, microwave, air fryer, sink, oven, everything I could need to keep these growing boys fed. Directly next to the kitchen is our living room which also doubles up as my bedroom. It's not unusual on a boat for each space to have multiple uses but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I craved having my own bedroom and maybe in the near future we'll be able to upgrade the size of our boat and all have our individual spaces but for now this works just fine. We also have a good size shower and toilet and the boys share a bedroom right at the bow of the boat with two single beds, a tv and gaming console and books and toys like you would see in any other bedroom. How messy is your room? Are you sure? Would you like to show us around your room? Take the mic. Okay there's no singing on it. Why? I just clicked the button again. Oh okay good. So what do I do? Tell us what's in your room. Okay so James's bed, my bed, xbox, front deck in out my room, my shelf with books on it right there that's through the shelf and then a floor with no stuff on it except that one thing there and yeah that's it. So this is your room and James's room. Yes it is. What do you think about your room? I like it but I don't love sharing it. So there you have it a very quick tour of our 50-foot narrow boat home. I'm sure in upcoming episodes you'll get to see more of the boat and maybe even a peek into our 27-foot river cruiser that we tow along for my teenage son's bedroom. But living this lifestyle is more than just being inside the boat and it's about what happens when we step outside that really matters. Now this is one of the great things about living on a narrowboat. People often comment about the fact that we don't have a garden and that we're limited on space but actually space is the one thing we're not limited on. We've got incredible access to nature and I find that daily we make sure we get outside doesn't matter what the weather is at the moment it's cold the river the canal water is frozen yet we're out we're walking and we're enjoying the sunshine still. With young boys I think that's really important to get them outside to get them enjoying nature to get them breathing fresh air and get them just having fun that doesn't involve devices. So there we go a short introduction to our family our home and our life so please subscribe ready for the next episode of four boys on a boat oh yeah it's the noisy