What is it like to live on the water in winter? From time to time, we tell you about our houseboat life, and perhaps we get extra questions about what it's like in winter. This week, when it was at its coldest, we also took the lots of photos. So, here's an everyday story and a picture bomb.
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Living on the water - in winter
We have been living in a houseboat since 2013, so it has become "normal" for us. Many people find it charming in the summer, when you can sit out on the deck and enjoy the sun. But what about in winter?
Here are some week-old photos of our houseboat. It is located in Pampas marina in Solna, just outside the centre of Stockholm.
The marina houses 40 houseboats as well as several businesses and a restaurant, so the area is busy even in winter. It is also within walking distance of the metro, buses and shops.
But it is of course significantly quieter than in summer, when the area is teeming with diners, canoes, small boats and holidaymakers. In fact, we like both. Summer is cosy in its own way, but winter is peaceful and beautiful in a different way.
Snowy (and sanded) piers
But what about the practicalities of living on the water in winter? Not much of a problem actually. It gets snowy on the piers, of course, but Pampas (the company that owns the marina) shovels and sands. So there are usually no major problems walking around.
An (almost) ice-free marina
Pampas also keeps the marina ice-free, at least most of the time. Sometimes, if it gets cold early, the ice has time to settle. before they have managed to get their rotating propellers into the water.
Once the large rotating propellers move in the water, it cannot freeze, no matter how cold it is. In fact, the environment becomes a bit interesting when it is so cold, yet ice-free. Sometimes we see seaweed moving across the surface of the water. The open water also tends to attract ducks and swans.
However, ice can accumulate just outside the marina, or in small areas far from the propellers. Then, when the ice melts or breaks up, small flakes drift around and hit the hulls... It's not always easy to sleep!
Doesn't it get cold in the houseboat?
Some people wonder if it gets cold in the houseboat. In fact, we are usually quite warm indoors. The boat is not huge (around 70 square metres, but not full height ceilings everywhere), so it's quite easy to heat.
We have a boiler and both underfloor heating and radiators. Our air source heat pump has unfortunately been broken for a while, so when needed we have an extra fan heater. In addition, we have a small dehumidifier in the boiler room that makes the air a little drier and a stove, which we can light sometimes when it is really cold.
Living on the water in winter - a picture bomb
Last week, when it was so wintry and beautiful, I (Helena) walked around the piers and took a lot of photos. Here is a picture bomb from our houseboat marina, which perhaps shows how it is to live on the water in winter.
What is your accommodation like in winter?
How do you live? House, apartment, campervan ... or other? Where in Sweden or the world? Is your accommodation affected by the seasons, and is it different in winter?
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BP says:
A lovely post from Pampas Marina. That marina is really well run. Considering the small area you need to heat, it is probably warmer in your houseboat than in my apartment...
22 December 2022 - 20:00
Lena+i+Wales+och+Spanien says:
Interesting and beautiful pictures!
31 December 2022 - 7:34
Lena - gott för själen says:
How beautiful it is. Have only been there in summer (of course 😉 ).
We ourselves live in a newly built house (which you visited last year). It is so well insulated that it took 1.5 days before we discovered that our heat pump had broken. Then it was still -22, just before Christmas. A houseboat looks insanely cosy and charming, but I probably wouldn't be able to handle it because I'm so sensitive to waves.
Hug Lena
06 January 2023 - 9:44