Floating in a Winter Wonderland

Photo: Kerry Christianson -- Brigadoon carrying a snow load -- at the beginning of the day long snow.

It's an interesting day on the boat.  We have 3-4" of snow covering Brigadoon.  I've noticed the lake level in the sink has raised about an inch.   The snow has pushed us down that much.

Can the snow sink your house?  It can mine if there is enough of it.

The winds have changed too.  Usually, Brigadoon is pushed against the dock by the prevailing southerly winds.  This keeps her pinned, so to speak, and pretty stable, unless it's really blowing.  However, today, the winds are from the north, so we float, ever so gently, away from the dock.  The only thing keeping us here are the dock lines.

We are also having to manage the heat in the boat.  It's about 32 degrees outside and snowing.  Our two electric heaters are currently drawing max and medium respectively.  That's 1900 watts of oil radiant heat.  It's not enough.  So we have fired up the Dickenson.

It's doing a great job of both heating the boat and drying out the humidity.  When we awoke, Brigadoon was 50 degrees.  We were cold.  After running this for a few hours we are up to a balmy 62 degrees.  That's actually comfortable.

It makes me think back to a time when people didn't live in 2500 square foot homes, with huge picture windows and central heating set at 72 degrees all winter.

They survived, even thrived.

I asked Kerry if she still liked living on Brigadoon.  She sipped her not tea, looked out from under her soft cap, smiled and said, "yes."