ALL ABOARD

Meet the intrepid people who have traded traditional living spaces for a life on water

- Vaishali Dinakaran

In 2009, Sarah Henshaw, disenchanted with her job as an entertainment journalist in London, decided to change tracks and open a bookstore. She realised that if the bookstore was on a boat, she could trade a hefty rent for a comparatively nominal annual mooring fee. Within a month of first having the idea, she became the proud owner of a 57-foot narrowboat that she named Joseph. In June 2009, after onboard amenities like the kitchenette, shower, and toilet had been replaced with bookshelves, The Book Barge opened to the public.

“The idea was never to live on the boat or to travel with it,” says Henshaw, now 37. “The idea was just to have a bookshop.” But gradually it became apparent that a small indie bookshop was no match for online booksellers or ebooks. Despite business being quite brisk initially, and The Book Barge hosting many literary events, the sound of footsteps clattering down the gangplank became less frequent each day. By 2011, the business was in trouble. This, coupled with upheavals in Henshaw’s personal life, made her feel a bit at sea. “The business was failing, and I felt like I was failing as a person,” she recalls. “The desire to run away was part of why I moved onto the boat.”