Feature
Gill Rothwell
Photos
Claire Stapley
CASE STUDY
‘Nothing beats life on the water’
A
n affinity
with water
is most
definitely in Claire
Stapley’s blood.
Born into a sailing
family, she helped
her father build a
boat when she was
quite young and,
while working in
Barcelona in her
late teens, spent
six months living
on ‘a tiny boat’
in the
marina. ‘I’ve always enjoyed
being on the water,’ says
Claire, ‘and also I’m a bit of
a country bumpkin so when
I moved to Bristol for work,
I knew I didn’t want to live
in the city.’
Working in Bristol’s
Floating Harbour for a
boat hire company, Claire
rented a fully furnished
canal-based narrowboat on
a ‘try before you buy’ basis.
‘After six months I knew
I wanted to buy her, but Ididn’t move quickly enough and
she was sold to someone else,’
she regrets. Determined to find
a suitable replacement, she then
scoured marinas throughout the
south of England, eventually
settling on Rowan, a 58ft long
steel-hulled narrowboat built in- To finance her purchase,
Claire looked into the possibility
of securing a marine mortgage,
but was fortunate that, thanks to
a legacy, mum June was able to help out.
Fully equipped, although some of
it rather dated, Rowan’s compact 7ft
wide interior came
complete with a
fitted kitchen/diner,
sleeping area with
a double bed and
shower room with
WC. ‘With such a
small space it’s easy
to fill it,’ says Claire,
‘So I didn’t need
to buy much apart
from a foldaway table
and some storage.’
A new fridge is
battery powered by
solar panels, the
stove uses bottled
gas, heating for the
radiators is fuelled
by diesel and there’s also a wood-
burning stove. ‘It heats up very quickly
when it’s cold outside, though it can
be draughty and condensation is an
ongoing problem,’ admits Claire.
Another issue is that Rowan has no
permanent mooring, which means she
has to move at least one kilometre
every two weeks to keep her licence.
‘You have to move regularly anyway
to reach the water and waste disposal
facilities, so it’s all part of the routine,’
Claire explains. ‘As a “continuous
cruiser” you’re always meeting people
in the same situation. Canal folk look
out for each other, which is one of the
reasons I love my life on the water.’
Rowan is a classic steel-hulled
narrowboat and, at 17 years old, is
still in very good conditionThe galley kitchen is equipped with
a gas hob and battery-operated fridgeThough life on
a canal boat can
be challenging, it
offered Claire an
opportunity to
get on the
property laddersssPortholes on either side
of the boat fill the cosy
sleeping area with light