Friday, July 22, 2011

To condition? Or not to condition?

Well... I mean the air, of course! Baltimore is in the midst of a serious heat wave. The overnight lows have been in the high 80s all week.

So far I've got a small fan and a big Vornado fan and that's about it. And a lot of hatches. And the occasional merciful breeze.

Now, I could buy one of those air conditioners pictured to the left there... I had one last year. It sits on one of the hatches and hangs inside. I borrowed it from the sailing center I used to work for.

But that is not an option this year -- the borrowing, I mean. Now the pros of one of these is that it's actually liveable in the cabin during the day. The cons? Slightly more numerous. The unit is fairly heavy and difficult to maneuver, which makes sailing a pain. My boat is not big enough to sail with that thing sitting on one of the hatches -- and it's not terribly sturdy, so if the boat was going to heel, I would worry about it falling off. Also, last year the cotton cover that came with it was not the right size/fabric to cover my hatch opening and not have rain come in. Slightly less than awesome.

Up until now I've been working about 50 hours a week and commuting about 16 hours a week and spending some weekends away. So it really hasn't been that bad. The overnight lows have been enough to sustain me.

But in this record heat wave I'm torn. There's to be another heat wave next week.

And can you imagine what will happen to me if it rains and I have to close all my hatches?

Readers, this is a true conundrum. I need your thoughts.