Does Living on A Boat Help Improve Your Mental Health?

Imagine gliding through Braunston Tunnel, a 2,042-yard passage dug in 1796. Your narrowboat’s light flickers on damp, iron-streaked walls. In this episode, I’ll take you inside this marvel—4.8 meters wide, 3.76 meters high, with a slight S-bend from shifting soil and three air shafts. It’s just wide enough for two 7-foot boats to pass.Heading north after filming series six of Canal Boat Diaries, I contend with engine noises and spider webs, finding an eerie calm in the tunnel’s hidden story.Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced by Urban Podcasts.

I’m taking you through Cosgrove Lock on the Grand Union Canal—engine humming, lock gates creaking, water rushing as I work the paddles. It’s a sunny spring day, cherry blossoms are out, and after a long, muddy winter, I’m finally moving.Simon, a continuous cruiser, lends a hand and we chat about why days like this—calm, bright—make it all worthwhile. It’s real-time canal life: the windlass clanks and the boat steadies. No polish, just the water, the quirks, it’s a raw slice of the cut.Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced by Urban Podcasts.

It’s not all roses and castles as they say! This is a whole side of boating that I don’t think I’ve ever talked about. River rage – disagreements and arguments that often occur when waterways users lose their cool after a long day living the good life! A boater’s £4,000 fine for disrupting a rowing regatta was the subject of a radio phone in that I took part in recently. So, in this episode I share some true stories of my own experiences from the rivers Thames, Weaver and Ouse.Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced by Urban Podcasts.

What’s it really like living on a canal boat during winter? In this episode, I share the ups and downs of winter life on the water – the cold, the shorter days, and the isolation that come with it. As someone who’s spent a lot of time navigating through it, I give you a behind-the-scenes look at balancing the tough side of winter with the unexpected rewards.From keeping the fire burning to embracing the quiet of winter moorings, I share the little things that make this season special – like wildlife sightings, the beauty of the landscape, and how the solitude can spark creativity.I also talk about the practical side: staying warm, finding the right spots to moor, and how living this way takes both physical effort and mental resilience.Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced by Urban Podcasts.

In this episode, I talk about what life on a narrowboat in London is really like – the good, the bad, and everything in between. With over ten years of experience living on the water, I share some of my personal stories from when I first started out, including the surprises and challenges that came with it.I’ll take you through what it’s like managing life on the canals in London, from navigating the busy waterways to dealing with the Canal and River Trust, plus some of the new rules that have popped up. There’s also a story at the start which will also be available as a narrated timelapse on my YouTube channel.Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced by Urban Podcasts.

In this Christmas special, I share what Christmas truly means to me, from family traditions to the reality of spending Christmas on a boat.I also give a sneak peek into 2025, with exciting things coming up, like more live shows, writing a book, and season 6 of Canal Boat Diaries, featuring more adventures and canals to explore.Throughout the episode, I answer listener questions about life on the boat, what it’s like to spend Christmas alone, and how the laid-back pace of boat life has changed the way I enjoy this time of year.Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced by Urban Podcasts.

In this episode, I take a break from filming Canal Boat Diaries series 6 to dip my toes into anissue that impacts millions of people and yet remains a delicate and very personal subject. Living on the water certainly offers a slower pace of life and a chance to reflect on life, but it’snot easy and can be very challenging mentally as well as physically.Drawing from my own experience of anxiety and depression I discuss if boat life could help pre-existing mental health disorders or make them worse.  But it almost goes without saying, I am not a mental health professional and contained in the podcast are my own opinions, not to be taken as medical advice!Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

Aside from making Canal Boat Diaries for TV, I am also on tour with my live show – Canal Boat Stories. It’s mostly just me sharing photos, videos and stories about my travels, with a bit of music and also a Q&A.With an audience of around 200 people, I enjoy answering questions, but this time there were so many I ran out of time. So, in this special episode, I’ll be covering some of the questions I didn’tget around to including ‘would you ever leave the Naughty Lass and return to regular living’ ‘does it get lonely on a boat’ and ‘how many windlasses have you lost this year’!Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.  

What’s it really like filming Canal Boat Diaries? Summer edition! From the set of Canal Boat Diaries (er, well my narrowboat) I bring you some extra special behind the scenes content.Anxiety about public scrutiny and the inevitable loss of privacy are points I cover, as well as baffling other boaters and how long it really takes to film a one-hour show.From the long and arduous days, some lasting up to eleven and a half hours, every lock (and aqueduct) can test both physical and mental endurance. The logistics with cars and boats can be complicated and it can be stressful but it’s interesting, fun and ultimately worth it!Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

My dad, Richard, joins me for this episode, where we reminisce about our adventures on the water. From his globetrotting career in high-tech horticulture to earning his yacht master qualification, we recount memorable boating trips, including a hilarious mishap on the Kennet and Avon Canal and a nerve-wracking journey down the tidal River Trent. We also share some of the unique challenges of living on water, especially when the temperatures drop.Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.