The weather has suddenly become cold and raw and we have lit the fire for the first time in ages. It is currently sending a warm glow through the boat as I write this, which is very comforting and cosy.
One of the main questions which people ask us, is how we cope in the cold weather. Everyone assumes that it will be hard to keep the boat warm. In fact we are warmer on the boat than we ever were in a house, which was often draughty and expensive to heat because of the high ceilings, typical of a Victorian terraced house.
We have three sources of heat on the boat so we know we will always be warm if one of those should fail. We have an electric panel heater which gives out a very low heat and is very cheap to run. Our central heating, which goes on for an hour in the morning, also provides hot water for the morning chores. This uses a small amount of diesel. We light the wood burner in the evenings, which is completely free, because we forage all our wood. It is also really cosy and cheering to sit in front of.
Shortly, we will also be fitting our back canopy onto the stern. This provides an extra room in winter and protects the stern deck from the elements. It enables us to kick off muddy shoes and also adds another layer of insulation. We always wait until we know that we are not going to go out cruising again until the spring, because the boat is very difficult to sail with the canopy up, especially when going under bridges. Many boaters do, but they are much more experienced and confident than us.
I have come to the conclusion that we are perhaps a little over cautious. We won't go out in windy weather, we won't cruise with the canopy on and we hate sailing in the rain, even if we wear full waterproofs. Maybe we are rightly protective of the boat because we live on it, but there are times when I do think we are a bit too careful. Unfortunately this impacted on the Saxophone project. We had a very good dry run, but on all of the days put aside for the real thing the weather was wet and windy. There was one small window of opportunity, when the sun was supposed to come out and the wind drop for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but we would have had to cruise up to the meeting point in pouring rain and stiff winds, so we decided to back out.
I did feel bad, but the chap managed to find another boat on the day, so did successfully record, although I don't think it went quite as well as he had wanted.
Tomorrow I am flying to India for five weeks work. I then return to the UK for a week of other work commitments. I will hardly be over the jet lag before flying back to another part of India for two more weeks work. This is the way my work pattern is, weeks of intense work and then long periods off. It works well for us, but it is draining when I am in work mode. The people in India are wonderful, I get well looked after and it is an amazing country, I feel very lucky and privileged to have the opportunity to go there.
Last week we spent a couple of days in the Lake District, having some 'us' time which was lovely. The weather was poor, but it didn't dampen our spirits and we managed to get out for a bit of a walk.
Here are some pictures from our walk:
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That only leaves me to bid you all goodbye for a while. I will be posting when I get back in December and hope to display the results of the fruit gin, which is currently steeping away under the bed.
Bye for now ...
Al :)
One of the main questions which people ask us, is how we cope in the cold weather. Everyone assumes that it will be hard to keep the boat warm. In fact we are warmer on the boat than we ever were in a house, which was often draughty and expensive to heat because of the high ceilings, typical of a Victorian terraced house.
We have three sources of heat on the boat so we know we will always be warm if one of those should fail. We have an electric panel heater which gives out a very low heat and is very cheap to run. Our central heating, which goes on for an hour in the morning, also provides hot water for the morning chores. This uses a small amount of diesel. We light the wood burner in the evenings, which is completely free, because we forage all our wood. It is also really cosy and cheering to sit in front of.
Shortly, we will also be fitting our back canopy onto the stern. This provides an extra room in winter and protects the stern deck from the elements. It enables us to kick off muddy shoes and also adds another layer of insulation. We always wait until we know that we are not going to go out cruising again until the spring, because the boat is very difficult to sail with the canopy up, especially when going under bridges. Many boaters do, but they are much more experienced and confident than us.
I have come to the conclusion that we are perhaps a little over cautious. We won't go out in windy weather, we won't cruise with the canopy on and we hate sailing in the rain, even if we wear full waterproofs. Maybe we are rightly protective of the boat because we live on it, but there are times when I do think we are a bit too careful. Unfortunately this impacted on the Saxophone project. We had a very good dry run, but on all of the days put aside for the real thing the weather was wet and windy. There was one small window of opportunity, when the sun was supposed to come out and the wind drop for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but we would have had to cruise up to the meeting point in pouring rain and stiff winds, so we decided to back out.
I did feel bad, but the chap managed to find another boat on the day, so did successfully record, although I don't think it went quite as well as he had wanted.
Tomorrow I am flying to India for five weeks work. I then return to the UK for a week of other work commitments. I will hardly be over the jet lag before flying back to another part of India for two more weeks work. This is the way my work pattern is, weeks of intense work and then long periods off. It works well for us, but it is draining when I am in work mode. The people in India are wonderful, I get well looked after and it is an amazing country, I feel very lucky and privileged to have the opportunity to go there.
Last week we spent a couple of days in the Lake District, having some 'us' time which was lovely. The weather was poor, but it didn't dampen our spirits and we managed to get out for a bit of a walk.
Here are some pictures from our walk:
That only leaves me to bid you all goodbye for a while. I will be posting when I get back in December and hope to display the results of the fruit gin, which is currently steeping away under the bed.
Bye for now ...
Al :)
