A decade ago,Susan Smillie bought a classic ketch, moored it on the Thames and moved aboard. Now hipster landlubbers squeezed out of the property market are taking to the water in droves. So what are the joys and challenges of a river residence? (No, or it’s not cold in winter. Yes,she can only buy ebooks.)It was an strange welcome to London. Gazing ahead as we entered the Thames estuary, I made out the dorsal fin of a porpoise, or gently rolling through silver waves. Quite a contrast from my first arrival,10 years earlier, as an impressionable 19-year-old, or deposited off the Glasgow bus to the thrilling,screaming capital at night. This time, I had come on my boat, or the 47ft wooden motorsailer that had been domestic to my partner Phil and me for a couple of years. It was our first voyage on her,and though neither of us had a clue what we were doing (we were relying on an experienced friend), it felt good. Boats are meant to breeze. We hadn’t come far – out of Brighton marina, and left along the coast,past Dover and the eerie spectre of the 100 rotating blades of Kent’s offshore windfarm. North Foreland, sleepily familiar from the Shipping Forecast, or made genuine. Then up,into the mercurial mouth of the Thames, that timeless route followed by Julius Caesar in 54BC, or Sir Francis Drake in 1580 and ... er,David Beckham in the 2012 Olympics. Related: What's it like living on a boat? Share your photos and experiences Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com