Off-grid nudist couple who live in 70ft narrowboat are looking for guests – but there’s no kit allowed

Off-grid nudist couple who live in 70ft narrowboat are looking for guests – but there’s no kit allowed

This nudist couple decided to live ‘off grid’, after quitting their jobs and moving into a 70ft narrowboat.

They’ve now even transformed the boat into a floating hotel for fellow naturists.

Fiona Discombe, 54, and her husband, Michael, 51, have been naturists ever since spontaneously going nude on a beach in Greece during their honeymoon in 1994.

After feeling liberated by the experience, the pair travelled the world visiting naturist destinations including the Caribbean, the US, and Thailand.

They then decided to sell their home, buy a van and travel around Europe in 2022 – visiting as many nudist locations as possible.

After returning to the UK this year, Fiona and Michael wanted to live off-grid as much as they could and decided to buy a narrowboat to live on and start a business from.

Fiona, from Devizes, UK, said: ‘France and Spain were the best places for nudism for sure because they’re so kitted out for it.

‘Those countries are much more liberal about it and have amazing and beautiful facilities.

‘After we spent a year travelling in the van, we came back and continued living in the van. However, it wasn’t ideal because of the weather here.

We still wanted to try and live off-grid as much as possible, work for ourselves, and have a base in the UK, so we decided we would go and have a look at some boats.

‘We were sold and decided we wanted to live on a narrowboat. So we put the van up for sale and bought a 70ft narrowboat.’

That’s when they had the idea of splitting it into two areas – an area for themselves to live in, and an area at the other end of the boat for hotel guests.

We spent four months renovating the boat and then we started advertising our floating hotel to predominantly other naturists,’ she added.

‘Then guests come to stay on the boat we do everything for them. We take them out on cruises to Bath and Bristol, and cook for them, I am a
masseuse so I can provide massages, Michael is a qualified yoga instructor so he does this with guests too.

We don’t find it hard sharing the boat with guests because we all usually share the common interests of naturism, and we can also screen off either of the ends for privacy.’