19 Mar WE HAVE WALLS! Building our off-grid, electric narrowboat | Weekly Update 10
We have had a hugely successful week in building our off-grid, fully electric narrowboat home. It’s not been without its challenges, but we’re feeling pretty proud of ourselves this week for the progress we’ve made in building our off grid floating home.
If you’ve been following our build journey, you’ll know that one of our biggest struggles yet has been putting up our interior stud walls, known as bulkheads in the boating world. We’ve built them only to take them back down more times than you can imagine. However, after a few hectic days of building into the evenings, we have finally managed to keep them up – and guess what, they’re straight…ish! It’s a huge milestone for us, especially as we’re new to DIY. We may not be the best place to come for advice on building stud walls, but we’re proud of our progress and perseverance.
There was only one way we were able to achieve overcoming this hurdle – and that was by working into the night. Our electrician was booked in for our second fix this week, so we were rushing to get the walls up in time for him. Part of this electrics second fix is for him to fit the switches in the walls, along with installing our solar panels, batteries, motor – and generally everything to do with the electrics!
I don’t know about you, but we need deadlines. Life is slow on the water and we can’t help but take our time with the build – it’s all about the journey. Nonetheless, when we’ve got a deadline we’ll do everything we can to hit it!
With the walls up and straight, we headed off to Cornwall for a few days off to relax and recharge with friends, whilst Phil the electrician was due to come and set us up with power. The Hidden Hut at Porthcurnick Beach was on our bucket list, and so we had to venture there whilst in the county. It lived up to our expectations with amazing food enjoyed outside. We also spent our time walking the stunning coastlines.
Heading back to Artichoke, we were hoping to be able to switch on the lights and have power, but unfortunately, we have another hiccup in the build. Unfortunately, Phil the electrician is ill, and so the boat is exactly how we left it!
We’re now facing a sticky situation as we need to move off Flora, our original narrowboat, next week, but with no power (and no fire, or running water), Artichoke isn’t quite ready for us to move into. We’re not sure what the plan is next, but we do need to start packing!
Despite the setbacks, we’re appreciating how much we’re learning on this journey of building our own home. Every challenge we overcome brings a sense of personal reward and confidence for what’s next. Building a fully electric, off-grid floating home may be a daunting task, but we’re committed to making our dream a reality.
Pop back next week to see what happens next in building our off-grid fully electric house boat.
If you’ve not checked us out on YouTube yet, you can watch this week’s boat build here:
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