Joel Sanders changed his life on a whim.

The former Carpenders Park resident was cycling along the towpath from Watford to Tring in 2009 and stopped for lunch in Apsley. He got talking to a group of boaters who moored there and was instantly seduced by the tales of their lifestyle. A week later, he’d bought himself a narrowboat and was moored up alongside them.

Battling hypertension, a short temper, his dad’s caveat that ‘Jews don’t live on boats’, and zero practical skills – not to mention the almost daily problems of things like frozen pipes, water leaks, and conked out engines – comedian Joel is still ‘living the dream’ six years later and doesn’t regret his impulsive decision at all. It’s even provided him with enough material for a new comedy show, The Angry Boater.

“I think most people who don’t live on boats have one of two perceptions about it,” says Joel, 48, who used to run the Comedy Bunker in Ruislip. “They either think it’s this idyllic, harmonious, peaceful, wonderful way of living, or they think you’re driven to it by extreme poverty and there’s no benefit to it whatsoever. The show kind of pops both of those. It’s a very real look at what it’s like to live on the water – the good and the bad, the whole picture.”

Joel was living in a flat in Carpenders Park and struggling to cope with noisy neighbours and gangs of kids hanging about outside.

“I really liked the idea that, if somewhere is too noisy or I don’t feel safe, I can just move on, it’s that easy,” says Joel. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to do that every time, but I’ve got the freedom and the power to.”

This sense of freedom was what prompted Joel to give up his space at Apsley Marina after two years in favour of moving his 60ft boat around every two weeks, observing the 14-day rule of the canals.

“It undermines the whole point of being in a boat, staying in one place – moving about, the freedom, having a different view all the time, that’s the best thing about it,” says Joel, who used to perform his comedy routine around the world including at Vegas, where he appeared on bills with the likes of Robin Williams.

Joel is now on his second boat and there’s nothing he misses about life on solid ground – except Virgin Media and having the Watford Observer delivered through his door.

“You’re governed by two things on a boat that you’re not run by in a house – you know your water’s going to run out and that your toilet tank is going to fill up at some point,” laughs Joel, who used to teach English at Haydon School in Northwood before he took up comedy. “I find myself making strange decisions like I must eat less so I lose weight and the toilet will fill up at a slower rate.”

Apart from that, his home has everything yours has – gas, cooker, microwave, washing machine, heating (“People always ask what I do about the cold. I put my heating on, what do you do?”) – Joel just has to think about how he powers everything a little more carefully, not running the engine at night and remembering to charge his batteries during the day so he can still flush his toilet overnight.

He’s also had to overcome his perennial un-handiness and turn himself into someone who can keep a narrowboat chugging along nicely.

“Jews and practical things?” he laughs. “That’s why I sold the flat and got a boat in the first place – the lightbulb went.

“The work is endless, every day there’s something I have to repair – oil, fuel, filters, leaks, rust, chimneys, water pumps, everything vibrates so things get loose. Most things I’ve had to deal with now – including not having an engine for five months this year – so I can keep myself ticking over. But if something goes wrong with the toilet – well, that’s the time to move into a Travelodge.”

  • The Angry Boater is at The Crystal Palace, Station Road, Berkhamsted on Saturday, June 27 at 7.30pm, and Ye Olde Red Lion, London Road, Nash Mills, on Sunday, June 28 at 7pm. Details: angryboater.com