Your Narrowboat Journey Starts Here -

For anyone dreaming of life on the water - honest stories, practical tips, and the real flow of boat life.

Download the free checklist every new boater wishes they had!

Life on the Cut

Real narrowboat life. Real advice. Real stories from the UK canals.

If you’re dreaming of living on a narrowboat ~ or you’re already exploring how to start ~ this site is your friendly, practical place to learn what boat life is really like.

Welcome ~ I’m Sarah, and I live on a narrowboat in the UK

If you’ve ever looked at a narrowboat and thought, “What if…?” ~ you’re in the right place.

If you've ever Googled things like:

“How do I start living on a narrowboat?”
“Is living on a narrowboat cheaper?”
“What do you need to know before buying a canal boat?”
“How does off-grid narrowboat life work?”
“What’s it really like living on the cut?”

…you’re in the right place.

Me, my husband and our scruffy dog have been living aboard since 2020, and owned (and moved!) more boats than I ever expected. I’ve lived off-grid, lived marina-based, lived through storms, frozen canals, leaky windows, full to brimming bilges and those stunning mornings where the mist rolls across the water and makes the whole thing worth it.

This website is where I share the truth about life afloat ~ not the glossy Instagram version.

This space is for you if:

you're dreaming about boat life but don’t know where to start
you’ve binged YouTube but want real, lived-day-to-day experience
you want help choosing the right boat
you want the honest truth (not the romantic Instagram version)
you love the canal community and want to feel part of it

To begin with, if you’d like my Free Narrowboat Beginner’s Checklist, click the link below.
I’ll ask a couple of quick questions about where you are in your journey, only so I can send you the checklist and more helpful things in the coming weeks ~ and I promise, no spam, ever.

👉 Click here to get your free checklist

Also on the Cut:
Boat Women Project

Alongside this guide, I’m collecting the real stories of modern women living afloat. Women on narrowboats, whether single, partnered, retired, working, raising families, healing, rebuilding, reinventing.

If you’re curious about the project ~ or you’d like to share your story ~ you can read more here:

👉 Boat Women Project

A quick hello from me

I’m Sarah ~ one of a thousand and more midlife, female boaters. UK based, living on the cut with years of experience across off-grid boating, marina life, multiple narrowboats, and all the joys and challenges in between.

If you’ve ever looked at a boat and thought I wonder if I could live like that… this space is for you.

Start with the checklist ~ it’ll help you feel more confident and clear as you explore your options.

Boat life isn’t perfect. It’s muddy, cold, beautiful, peaceful, wild, messy, stressful, magical, complicated and simple all at once.

But if something in your chest lights up when you think about living on the water… that spark is worth following.

I’m Sarah ~ and I’m here to help you feel confident, prepared, and a little bit braver as you dream about your own life on the cut.

👉 Download the Narrowboat Beginner’s Checklist