I’m feeling quite satisfied today. It’s grey and wet outside and the weather is definitely becoming quite wintery. I loved knocking about on the BBB in the long summer weather that we had this year – starting in early spring and ending late in autumn – but I really don’t mind winter starting and this is why…
Steaming Showers
I have just showered. A steaming hot toasty, lovely shower.
Perfect when it’s cold outside. Last winter I was a bit worried about condensation, so I didn’t enjoy hot showers as much. We survived the winter fine, without mould setting in, and we now have our new toilet (named Kevin – apparently it is not normal to name your loo, who knew?!) which helps to keep condensation low. It is a composting toilet and has a little fan which keeps it dry inside. It also makes a great bathroom extraction fan! Leave it on full for 10 minutes and the steam has gone! In the summer we don’t have as much hot water, because the water heating is connected to the boat heating: you can’t have one without the other. And in the summer it is too hot to need the heating, so we don’t get hot water! With less daylight in the winter, the solar panels don’t do as well. Sometimes we have to use the engine to charge the batteries, which also creates hot water!
Relaxing Rain
Last night I went to sleep with the soundtrack of rain on the roof. That is a wonderful sound, I don’t think I will ever tire of feeling warm and snuggled up and hearing the rain on the steel roof. Aaahhh!
Clear Cruising
Traveling is fun at this time of year. There are fewer boats around which makes it much easier. No worry about finding mooring spots and we can make as much noise as we like because there is no one nearby!
Huggy Hygge
There is nothing quite like coming in from the cold, all wrapped up and sitting in front of a hot fire. Watching the animals outside continuing their lives despite the weather and seeing how the scenery is changing. Walking on crisp crunchy grass, watching the snow swirling as it settles, making footsteps in the fresh fluffy snow.
But that is not all that winter will bring…
It is harder to dry washing in the winter. Anywhere, not only on a boat! I dry it on the stern, under the canopy. The air is so moist that it takes ages and often still feels cold and clammy. I don’t like to dry it on the boat, because it can build up condensation. Even on the coldest days, the washing dries well if it is sunny, but that doesn’t happen often in the winter!
For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you will know the perils of flooding from this post: A boat drought?! We had problems with getting water when the river was flooded and the BBB getting damaged in the flood. Now we have flood rings, so the boat should be much safer. We already have wellies and we know how long floods can last. So we are all prepared. Hopefully! But we can’t travel much in the winter without obsessively watching the weather forecasts. It would be very dangerous to be stuck on the river in a flood. I feel envious of canal dwellers at this time of year, they don’t worry about flooding!
Bring it on!
I might regret this… but at the moment I think, Bring It On! We can weather winter. We are prepared. And the things I like about winter outweigh the things I don’t!
Stay warm and dry and enjoy yourselves in this arctic atmosphere!
