I know that many people re-evaluated their lives during the pandemic and, my husband and I are no exception. We came to a realisation that we needed to make some changes which would improve the quality of our lives, but never did I envisage selling up our house and moving onto a houseboat.
In March 2021, we moved, with our two cats, Benny and Bea, onto our boat located next to Kingston Bridge on the River Thames. It was a bit of a shock to the system and it did take me a few weeks to settle. Selling our house that we had lived in for 13 years was a huge challenge for me, and I couldn’t help but think we had made a huge mistake. What was the universe thinking?
Despite my initial reticence about boat dwelling, I am coming round to a different way of living and working. The boat is a large steel hulled vessel, designed specifically as a static residential houseboat. It does not have an engine and we are securely attached to land. The large outside deck area is as big as a garden and is perfect for entertaining and chilling outside on a beautiful day.
Even the cats love chilling on the deck, or in one of the specially designed beds that were built for them to make them feel at home. As an Animal Healer trained in animal sensory enrichment, I designed the planting in raised flower beds to be filled with lavender, calendula, chamomile, catmint and catnip, all plants known to have properties that will enrich a cat’s life. Lavender and chamomile to soothe and calm, and catnip (Nepeta cataria Officianalis), which has a a bi-phasic effect, producing feelings of euphoria, followed by a sedative effect.
They are safe to eat and all proved a great hit when Benny and Bea first ventured outside. They can safely get off the boat onto land if they so wish and neither has been for a swim, and hopefully that shall remain the case.
THE GOOD
It is surprisingly peaceful, despite being moored on the opposite side of the river from the bustling town centre of Kingston upon Thames. The summer months are busier on the river with a constant stream of cruisers, canal boats, hire boats, and paddle boarders. The noise is one of fun, of people enjoying themselves.
We have forayed into paddle boarding over the last couple of summers. I cannot say that I have mastered it as yet, having had a couple of wet encounters, but having received a gift voucher for christmas with the wonderful, and very patient Rachel at SUP4 (www.sup4.co.uk), my plan is to conquer the paddleboard this year and glide seamlessly down the Thames, whilst remaining dry.
THE BEAUTIFUL
Having lived on board for nearly 2 years now, we have lived through each season and I can quite honestly say, that it would be difficult to pick a favourite season.
Spring brings new life. With a nesting goose on one of the neighbouring boats, and hatching goslings in May, we feel like proud grandparents when we see the babies hatched safe and sound, though it can be quite stressful seeing them swimming around through the first weeks of life. With a number of predators such as herons, pike and foxes to navigate, I am amazed when any of them survive, but they come to us for feeding, because we always have a supply of nutritional floating swan and duck food to hand.
Summer brings life to the river. The ducklings, goslings and cygnets are beginning to grow, and the hire boats, rowers and paddle boarders are out in force. It is a happy, joyful sound of summer that stays throughout the warmer autumn months.
In autumn, I find myself feeling strangely sad when great swathes of V formations of the adult geese fly off, migrating off to warmer climes, and the now grown up babies are left behind to navigate through their first winter. They are boisterous and loud, and remarkably resilient, having had to endure an outbreak of avian flu in their early lives, which has been distressing. This is the difficult aspect of living on the river – Mother Nature can be brutal and, as an animal healer, I find it really difficult to observe the hardships that these beautiful creatures have to endure.
Winter has its own beauty. The cold, dark evenings bring a sense of calm and quiet, as boats moor up for the winter months. This does bring a lovely sense of peace and I like to think that the river has a chance to rest and re-energise ready for the new life coming up in the spring.
HEALING FROM THE BOAT
As a Health Coach and Healing Practitioner, I experience the joy of being able work from my beautiful Healing Studio overlooking the river.
Considering I was really unsure about moving aboard, I have seen the light and, I now see a myriad of opportunity. My therapy room is twice the size of my last treatment space with bifold doors onto a large deck where I can sit and read and meditate. It is flooded with natural light, with views over the Thames with its ever changing scenery. We are surrounded by a constant stream of swans, ducks and geese, alongside our resident heron. I can watch the river wildlife for ages – truly beautiful nature on our doorstep.
As a Healing Practitioner, this is the ideal location to be offering Reflexology, Zone Face Lift and Reiki therapies, a perfect prelude to relaxation. My clients love the uniqueness of this new river view location. The view, the gentle lull of the boat and the opportunity to be so close to nature. When they arrive, we can catch up whilst feeding the swans and the geese – a beautiful way to start the appointment and a lovely way to start grounding and bring ourselves into the moment.
As a Holistic Health Coach, I offer 1 to 1 Coaching sessions, and on a lovely day, we have the option of either sitting outside on the deck in the warm sun with a cup of herbal tea, we can walk and talk, or sit by the riverside. Coaching outside, connected to nature and the great outdoors can be deeply connecting to ourselves and to the energy of the universe.
I now have the space to run small group Stress, Resilience and Mindfulness workshops and Relaxation Retreats, as well as Chakra Dancing and Creative Meditation workshops. It is the perfect location to be stress-free. This year, I will be incorporating Mindful Walking into some of my workshops – with the riverside, Home Park and Bushey Park on my doorstep, these are just some of the beautiful natural spaces where you can connect to nature in all it fabulous glory.
THE BAD
Are there any downsides to moving onto the boat? It is a beautiful way to live and makes my working day a lot more enjoyable, but, I have needed to harden up to the reality of nature and the sheer power of the water.
The biggest issue I have sadly, but maybe not surprisingly, is with people. The human race still have an awful lot to learn about looking after the planet.
The river is a place for all, but the water has a powerful energy and has to respected. Every year lives are lost due to the sheer power of the water. Sadly, there are an increasing number of lives being taken to suicide, a reminder of the desperate need for improvement in the mental health system. There are also too many accidental deaths, and education is key, especially in young people, about the dangers of swimming and playing in the river. The currents are stronger than any of us can imagine. The river is beautiful but it demands our respect. Having warned some young lads of the dangers of climbing over the bridge parapet, it appears that they think they are invincible.
Once the warm weather arrives, there is a huge increase in the amount of plastic and rubbish that ends up in the river - litter, plastic bags, bottles, balls, takeaway cartons that break up and release toxins into the river, polluting not just the water, but poisoning the fish and river wildlife.
We have seen raw sewage, oil and fuel spills, and objects such as boat toilets, furniture and even a pub umbrella dumped in the river. Garden waste thrown into the river - tree trunks and logs that can cause damage to small boats and get lodged behind moorings.
The river is not a dustbin for all to throw their rubbish into. It is a thriving, living space full of wildlife, fish and plantlife that is being decimated by the thoughtlessness of humans. I know that the majority of the river dwelling community are passionate about their surroundings, but the remaining few, alongside the wider public, need to afford their environment the respect it deserves. People need educating about the impact that their behaviour has on the river environment. Allowing raw sewage to flow unhindered into the river is not acceptable and has far reaching consequences, not just on the riverlife, but on the ecological food chain too.
I would love to think that we are becoming more aware of how our behavior impacts the environment, and on the whole, I believe we are but, there is still a large section of society that doesn't get it, and to create long lasting change, it takes commitment from every single person on this planet. Small things like taking your rubbish away with you after a picnic so that it does not end up in the river, has a huge impact on improving river pollution.
There are, I know, negative aspects of living anywhere, and there are a huge amount of positives to living here. The views upstream and downstream are stunning. Whether it is sunny, raining or freezing, the view is always beautiful. Sitting watching a storm through the open doors, for a bit of extra atmosphere, sitting on my egg chair, gently swinging on a warm day – meditating or just reading is so relaxing, it could be a therapy in itself.
Weekend entertaining with friends on deck and paddleboarding after work, are just a couple of the benefits at our fingertips, but it has also opened my eyes to a bigger picture. A picture of the need for greater compassion and kindness, not just to each other, but to the planet.
Never in a million years, did I see this move happening. It has changed our lives, definitely for the better. We live in the moment much more, and I have a greater passion for the environment myself, not just seeing, but actually experiencing life on the water. The environment I live in belongs to the wildlife – the swans, the ducks the geese, herons and all the rest, and it is up to us to show them that we do respect their home.
