Heat Sans Relief

South Burlington, Vermont

Like many other places in the USA, Vermont is suffering from a heat wave in recent weeks.   I have been suffering a bit.

When we visited John in Rome, NY a while back he kindly offered us a spare bedroom.   But it was so hot at night that I couldn't sleep.   It brought back memories of the 1960s when we lived in Scotia, NY.   We had heat waves back then and I remember lots of trouble sleeping.

That brings us to the boat.  Since we started cruising in 2005, I can't remember a single time when it was too hot on board the boat to sleep.  Part of that is due to our choice of summer cruising grounds; Vermont or Maine but never The Chesapeake or the Carolinas.  But the bigger part has to do with the natural cooling of the water.   Nearly 50% of our main salon lies below the water level and the outside water temperature is almost always 80F or less.  The water has a huge moderating effect on inside temperatures, sawing off the peaks of hot and cold.

Yesterday I visited the Shelburne Museum (more on that later).   I arrived there at 10AM when it opened and I planned on spending the day.  However by 12 oclock, I was near collapse from heat exhaustion. I had to leave after seeing only 1/3 of the museum. Fortunately for me, the admission ticket is good for two days.  I'll return today and stay until exhaustion again.

That reminded me of another outlet we lack by not being on the boat.   In summer is has been my custom to jump in the lake when I feel hot.  I call it instant attitude adjustment.   The frequency of dips varies from once per day to once per hour, depending on how hot it is.  In Maine, I don't stay in the water very long at all.  In Lake Champlain, the lake waters are deliciously cool in summer and one can luxuriate in the water indefinitely.

Once again, choice of cruising grounds plays a choice. The lower 2/3 of The Chesapeake Bay is infested with sea nettles in summer.  No swimming there.   The Neuse River in North Carolina is too polluted and too full of water moccasins in summer.  No swimming there.

I don't know if I ever mentioned it before, but a large part of our cruising style has to do with no AC on board.   Both Libby and I are adverse to being tied to shore power at a dock most of the time (even if we could afford it).   Thus, even if we had AC installed, we couldn't use it most of the time.  It takes far too much energy to use without shore power.   Therefore, choice of winter/summer cruising grounds is not accidental.   The single exception to that was the past winter in New Bern; a decision that we regret.   Staying in New Bern provided much better family contact, but it was a life unsuitable for cruisers.  We wish we had been in Marathon for the winter.