Double Glazing

When the weather is cold and the boat is warm inside with the fire on, we have had terrible problems with condensation. Apart from managing inside the wardrobes and under the bed which I will deal with some other time, the windows were a real problem in the mornings. We had to go around wiping them down with a large towel every morning as they were dripping wet.

We decided that we needed double glazing for the winter, so we investigated boat double glazing specialists. The best quote was for £750 to do the whole boat, reduced to £725 if we decided quickly. In fairness the result would have been spectacular and easy to manage. Our boat has windows which slot in a frame and can simply be taken out. This firm would have been able to provide us not only with double glazed windows for the winter which were easy to take out, but they also offer ventilated windows for the summer which again can just be slid in and out and they let the air in while keeping insects out. We were tempted to go for the whole deal, but it seemed like an awful lot of money.

So P measured all the windows, bought some perspex, got it cut to size and fitted it himself with a bit of draft excluder and ...... hey presto - double glazing at a total cost of less than £100! That gives us financial scope to move on to our next project - solar panels.

Today I went in search of the Kingfisher with my camera and needless to say it didn't appear! But I did have a lovely walk with jack the whippet.....

T came over for tea tonight and we talked about boating things, like what made us decide to live on a boat. We also talked about putting our plans into practice, keeping chickens and maybe a goat and trying to get an allotment. I have to work a bit (Ok not full time), but I would like to give up altogether ideally. The trouble is we do like our little luxuries, like spending money on petrol to travel up to the Lake District to indulge our favourite hobby of fell walking and occasionally spending  a couple of nights in a hotel.

I walked past some 'continuous cruisers' on the tow path today and that is a hard way of life. In fact I think that at this time of year, they must spend most of their days just surviving, what with filling up with water, getting rid of waste and keeping warm. Of course all of us boaters have to do that, but we have a tap on the jetty for water, the bins at the top of the car park for waste and coal for purchase on site. Continuous cruisers have to access all facilities from distance. I'm just not ready for that yet.

More tomorrow as I'm not back at work until next Monday ....

Al