What Should You Buy a Narrowboat Owner? [GIFT IDEAS]

Do you have a friend or a family member that is into narrowboats or lives on a narrowboat? Are you struggling to buy them a suitable gift? If so, look no further. Today we will be going over the best (and most original) narrowboat gifts money can buy 🙂

Before we start, you can view all products featured in this article (over at amazon) by simply clicking on the image.

Gift 1: The Narrowboating T-Shirt

A narrowboating t-shirt is something that a lot of narrowboat enthusiasts would love to wear. There is nothing better for a proud canal boater, I can tell you. The problem is that narrowboating is still quite a niche past-time, so people aren’t exactly clambering over themselves to make ‘cool’ t-shirts on the subject.

However, I have found the ultimate narrowboating t-shirt, which comes in the form of a spoof version of ‘Rosie & Jim’. This was a children’s program from the UK in which the main character travelled around in a canal boat, therefore forever immortalising ‘Rosie & Jim’ as a cult classic amongst canal cruisers!

This particular t-shirt puts a comedic twist on the whole thing by containing the title ‘Rose & Gin’ and the tagline ‘chugging along on the old ragdoll’. I have to say I love this t-shirt and I am sure a lot of other narrowboaters will too 🙂 See for yourself below.

Not sure I can top that start frankly, but I will try 🙂

Gift 2: The Narrowboat Recipe Book

Not only is the narrowboat chef a part of a great YouTube channel (of the same name), but he is also a great provider of narrowboat recipes. I have seen many narrowboaters that frankly struggle to come up with recipe ideas to cook in their floating kitchens, so this book is the perfect antidote to this. And being titled ‘Winter Warmers’ makes it super attractive to any narrowboater that has spent Winter on their boat 🙂

Gift 3: The Model Narrowboat

Any true narrowboat enthusiast would like a narrowboat model to place on their bookshelf to remind them every day how much they love being on one! And this one is a particularly detailed one, more like a display model than a child’s toy! See for yourself below 🙂

Gift 4: The Floating Keyring

There is nothing more frustrating for a narrowboat owner than dropping a key in the canal and having to employ a magnet fisher to get it back. Either that or fumble around at the bottom of the canal trying to find it yourself (not a nice job, trust me!). Therefore, a floating keyring is the perfect gift, as it will make sure that any dropped keys will float in the canal and be easy to spot.

Gift 5: The Coffee Machine

If this particular narrowboat enthusiast is a coffee lover this may be the ideal gift. Most canal goers don’t like having fully fledged electric coffee machines on their boats as they use up valuable electric real estate! The Aeropress (seen below) is one of the best non-powered espresso makers and will make a top-notch espresso in one press! Now you can have good coffee on the go!

Gift 6: The Narrowboat Mug!

Everyone needs a good mug to sip coffee or tea from on a wet and windy morning (especially if you live on a narrowboat!). This mug would be perfect for any boater as it comes with the tagline ‘Life is Better with a Boat and a Dog’. Of course, only buy this for your canal boat loving pal if they also love dogs 🙂

Gift 7: The Canal Boat Tea Towel!

As well as needing a mug, most people also need a tea towel to do the ‘drying up’ as I call it! These particular tea towels come printed with some beautiful canal boat art for good measure, and would make a great gift for anyone cruising the cut 🙂 You might even want to frame them and make more of a wall hanging gift 🙂 These tea towels would be a treat for anyone interested in the history of the UK canal network.

Gift 8: The Narrowboat Sign

Most people like to put witty signs up on their boats to show others they don’t take life too seriously. For those kinds of people, this sign would be an ideal gift, as it carries the phrase ‘what happens on the boat stays on the boat’. If you find your narrowboat loving friend or family member continuously cracking jokes, this would be the gift to get them 🙂

Gift 9: The Narrowboat Puzzle

Puzzles are also a popular choice for narrowboaters. Not only do they come with stunning pictures representing narrowboats past and present, they can provide hours of fun 🙂 Especially good for those long winter nights on the boat. I particularly like this thousand piece puzzle below. A puzzle like this is accessible to pretty much anyone without being so simple that you can finish it in a couple of nights.

Gift 10: The Beanie Cum Night Light 🙂

This one may seem a bit out of left field, but trust me, this could be an invaluable gift for a narrowboater. Most canal goers spend way too much time fumbling around in the dark for coal (among other things). Canal towpaths can be pretty dark at night! This beanie has an embedded LED light in it, so it helps you see in the dark without looking like an idiot with a massive light strapped to your head 🙂 No-one likes that coal miner look!

There you have it, no more agonising over what to buy your narrowboat buddies, whether it be for Christmas or a birthday we have you covered 🙂