Staying Cool On Board

Amsterdam, NY

NoLL

We, like most of the East Coast, are in the midst of a heat wave. It seems an appropriate time to talk about if, and how, we manage to keep cool on board the boat.

First, we don't have air conditioning. Many boats do. Indeed many have heat pumps that provide both heating and cooling. However, those boats tend to spend most of their time in expensive slips in marinas plugged in to shore power. That would completely ruin our budget. We limit marina visits to the bare minimum.

Our primary strategy is to migrate. We head for 45 degrees N in the summer and 25 N in the winter. Of course, last winter's cold in Florida and this summers heat up here proves that solution isn't guaranteed.

We do have a natural advantage; half of the boat is in the water all the time. That helps greatly to moderate the temperatures in the cabin as compared to the temperatures in a house. On the other hand, it is seldom where we anchor or tie up in a place where we get natural shade from trees.

When the mast is up, we also have two large canvas tarps that we can rig as sun shades. Between the two, we can shade almost the entire length of Tarwathie's decks. I'm particularly fond of setting up a hammock under the tarp on the forward deck. That's very pleasant, even in hot weather. Unfortunately, right now on the canal, the mast is down and we can't use the tarps. We hide out in places like the Library instead.

On days like this I also like to douse the decks and upper hull in cool water. That provides a small modicum of relief. Of course I usually can't resist dousing myself at the same time.

If we were on Champlain, or many other locations, the obvious solution is to simply jump in the lake. That provides immediate relief. I like to call it my "instant attitude adjustment maneuver." On really hot days, I take the plunge about once per hour. Here on the Mohawk River, things aren't set up right to swim in most places.

Most blessed is that the inside of the boat cools off after sunset so that we can sleep comfortably. There's nothing worse about hot weather than not being able to sleep.

Finally, as I was writing this blog post, I remembered something forgotten since Christmas. I gave Libby a present last year. It is a kind of battery operated fan with an integrated spray bottle. You blow air in your face, as you spray a mist of water. We dug it out and tried it for the first time today. It works pretty good. It is called O2COOL.

p.s. Tomorrow, we're off to Potsdam NY for a visit to my alma mater, Clarkson University. Probably no blog posts for a few days.