What to buy someone who lives on a narrowboat.

Three rules before you buy anything

• If it's bigger than a paperback, ask first. Boats don't have spare cupboards. Anything bulky needs to displace something existing.
• If it plugs into the mains, ask first. Most boats run 12V off a battery bank, with USB sockets on newer boats. A 230V kettle is useless without shore power.
• Personal beats generic, every time. A boater already owns five mugs. They don't need a sixth — but they might love one with their boat's name on it.

The categories that work

1. Boat-name personalisation

A typographic print, a hand-thrown ceramic mug with the name on, a brass plaque for the cabin door. The boat is the most particular thing in their life. Anything tied to its name lands. Our print →

2. Practical, properly made

One excellent thing to replace a tired thing they already own. A cast-iron windlass with a wooden handle. A linen-bound logbook. A really good gimbaled French press. A merino base layer for early-spring cruising.

3. Fuel for the year

Coal-merchant gift voucher (yes, they exist — Newhey or Dragonfly Smokeless deliver). Diesel-card top-up. Bottle-gas exchange voucher. Unromantic but lands harder than tat.

4. Subscriptions that compound

A year of Narrowboat Magazine. CRT supporter membership (which doubles as a thank-you to the people who look after the network). A subscription to a bookshop they'd never browse otherwise.

5. Edibles that fit a small fridge

Hard cheese (truckle), cured meat, a single bottle of something good (not a case — they don't have the storage), a jar of something condimental. Avoid anything frozen or bulky.