If we had £1 for every time someone says “Is it cold on there? Or “ don’t live on your boat in winter do you?” – we’d be rich!
No one ever seems to ask “Is it boiling in there at this time of the year ?” though and the answer is a resounding YES! Our home and office is effectively a metal box…getting more insulated by the year as we retro-fit to help develop temperature stability, but it is still a steel box. Steel is a conductor of heat – not the best perhaps but it gets VERY hot. At times over the past weeks it’s been almost impossible to hold the handrail whilst walking on the gunwhales at the height of the day.
The windows on our boat are a bit of a problem for us – the bulk of each window is static glass with a tiny section at the top, which tilts inwards (a hopper). Theoretically, these hoppers should be removable, but in our boat, only the tiny one in the bathroom will lift out.
Heat has a stultifying effect on the brain and the body. Researchers like Chloe Brimicombe specialise in studying its impact and are succinct about its dangers: “Being too hot makes you unwell and can even kill you.” The Conversation, July 8, 2022.
lnterestingly the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) says “There is no maximum temperature for workplaces. However, all workers are entitled to an environment where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled. Heat is classed as a hazard and comes with legal obligations like any other hazard.” Not for nothing do we talk of being “hot tempered”. Continuous heat (to which we aren’t accustomed) has a debilitating impact on us and our work.
When working outside as we have to when moving the boat, being too hot can lead to stupid mistakes, careless moments that can also cause injury, or worse, when managing locks and swing bridges particularly. Mind you being on the tiller down in dark dank locks brings welcome respite at this time of year even if you are standing over the engine!
Last year, and this as we sweltered and sweated, we thought about ways we could improve living conditions in the heat – and came up with a variety of options.
Continuing to add insulation – we’ve been doing this steadily.
Improving the flow of air in the boat. This is more complicated than it sounds and we’ve now used up all the less expensive options like using fans either usb driven or 12volt socket type (thanks Jonny – we particularly like the instructions!)
Additionally opening doors that will open (front, back and one side hatch; and keeping the blackout curtains drawn on the sunny side. We open the side hatch (on the one side we have one) and open the cratch cover too as well as the stable door at the front of the boat.
A sure fire cheap way to cool the boat down is to keep moving which effectively forces air through the boat and cruising on a sunny day is a delight. But there are days as we’ve had in past weeks and obviously at night when we’ve had to be static.
Keeping the boat as cool as possible – mooring in the shade although as the sun moves round it rarely works 24/7 and it is sadly frowned upon as well as unwise to moor in cool damp tunnels As I write this we have found the last mooring spot in a village in Lancashire and sure enough – it’s the one in full sunlight!
Keeping ourselves cooler. Wearing cool clothes. Drinking lots of water and cool drinks from the fridge – bliss. Encouraging use of the dog’s cool mat – no room for us all though! Wearing damp clothing…Boatdog modelled a particularly fetching damp teatowel look most of the daytime which she carried off with indomitable style!
Seeking shade off the boat. The last few weeks were extreme as thunderstorms moved round and around us, only arriving on Tuesday evening to break the interminable heat for a short while so we took refuge away from our metal box.
The major issue for Steve this month has been horrendous pollen counts rendering him almost insensible at times. I’ve never known his hayfever to be this bad in our 30+ years together, but apparently the pollen counts haven’t been this bad since 2018 in places either.
Night time is hard. We leave whatever we can open and reduce covers to a minimum.
Boatdog is choosing where she sleeps and she generally moves about a bit, selecting the coolest places she can find as the night wears stiflingly on. Now we have a fridge with a freezerbox we could chill our socks (it’s a thing believe me)…if we had space in there for them! Frozen peas (in the bag) bring blissful relief when placed on the back of the neck.
In the days when we are working manually out in the sun, operating locks, it feels authentic to be dripping in the heat, sweat stinging our eyes and clothes plastered to us, returning to the boat and feeling the pressure of the suffocating heat the moment we step back on board. It seems worse when we are working in a cerebral way on the boat at the computer and still wiping our brows and necks. Every moment, even every thought takes time, effort and is exhausting. To all the friends and family I said I’d contact this past week and haven’t- apologies. Just making it through what has to be done has been a struggle in the heat. Normal life will be resumed when things cool down!
We managed to explore Wigan this week and whilst there was much to see in terms of culinary delights (Uncle Joes Mint Balls and Galloways Pies for starters), cultural highlights (Wigan Pier; Andy Hazell’s three heads automata on Trencherfield Mill – Carton Head (top), Jar Head and Tin Head (bottom) spun and lifted in their day; and the newly unveiled Wigan Flight plaque), the clear winner for us in terms of changing our floating life and emptying our bank balance was a visit to Caldwells Windows!
We marvelled at the demonstration of boat windows you can open, tilt and completely lift out to maximise ventilation. Windows with aluminium frames that don’t need painting, windows with thermal break double glazing that will keep us warm in winter reducing heating costs and cool in summer reducing the need to run fans and stick our socks in the freezer.
All we need to do now is save lots of pennies to buy them and install them before too many more summers melt us or drive us from the boat back to a static tethered life in bricks and mortar. Without opening windows, it will be hot summers and not cold winters that drive us out of our floating home. We met up with someone who had all their windows replaced a few years ago, and they were waxing lyrical with enthusiasm about the difference it had made to living in pleasant conditions aboard, the increased ventilation and double glazed units leading to not only more pleasant temperatures all year round but reduced condensation too.
So for now I’m trying an economical new way to keep cool – visualisation of opening windows and looking back at the winter … I’ll let you know how it goes if I don’t melt in the meantime!
Pickingupducks 