The trials of summer...

Well now that summer is drawing to a close and the weather has been cooler, things have been exceedingly pleasant on the boat.

Apparently not pleasant enough, though.

Yes. That's right. Melted chocolate-cracker stick things. Oh the humanity.

This is just the most recent in a long long list of lessons with a single moral: When in doubt, put it in the refrigerator!

Days without A/C on the boat mean that with the hatches closed, Misty gets slightly past toasty and into melty... And now I have a mass of melted chocolate-cracker sticks. Luckily they taste OK... but they are now one solid mass instead of multiple sticks. Oh summer...

A day late...

Well... it seems the worst of the worst has passed for summer. It's been much cooler lately and, you know what? I think I can easily make it through the rest of the summer without an air conditioner.

I think I will buy one for the future though -- but my strategy will be to let the a/c fund collect some interest and buy either just in time for next summer or whenever it happens to go on sale.

Anyone happen to know if these units typically go on sale post-summer? I mean... West Marine can't want them sitting around the warehouses all winter, right? Please advise.

And while you're advising, let me know what you want to read about! I haven't done any "exciting" sailing this summer, though I certainly should post some pictures. But what do you guys want to read about? This lazy boat owner has some time while Congress is in recess and is looking to do some reader requests!

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.