90+ degrees

I had a friend of mine ask me if we have air conditioning on the boat.  After answering her with a hardy "yes" I thought to myself, maybe I should go into a little more detail about what we do here on the Lady J when the thermometer outside hits 90+.  First thing is we choose NOT TO CRUISE that day.  Mike and I have the luxury of choosing what days to travel since we have no schedule.  So when we know the weather is going to be, well unbearable, we choose to stay put.  So guess what?  We stayed put here in Newark and the temperature outside has reached a balmy 91 degrees.

Now let me tell you a little something about old Lady J.  SHE IS NOT INSULATED in any way shape or form.  She does though have a small air conditioner located in the stateroom (bedroom).  This is an obvious place for it as you want to try and keep cool while you are sleeping.  Bad part about this is the stateroom is three steps lower than the salon (main living area).  So when the air is on it all stays down in the stateroom.  Remember hot air rises.  So we have come up with a way to vent the cooler air up into the salon.  I present to you the "elephant".  Flexible duct work and duct tape works wonders.

The elephant has been a life saver.

Along with the small air conditioner we have also concocted a sun shade from a large drop cloth, some old flexible tent poles, grommets and bungee cords.  It resembles a conestoga wagon, but it helps keep the direct sun off the back part of the boat and this single action makes a world of difference.  

 Then we also limit our activities for the day.  We will read, surf the net if wifi is available, researching where we will go to next, work on the blog and read, we do a lot of reading when the weather is steamy.

 Remember we are older, plumper folks that don't necessarily like the extreme heat and humidity.  Oh and for heavens sake there is no cooking on those days.  That will heat the boat up so fast it will make your head spin.  If all else fails we go find a place that is air conditioned better than what our boat is.

Visiting a cool place sometimes borders on loitering.