Sauna in narrowboat?

[Emerald Fox]

Fri 4th Oct

 

Living in Finland and used to sauna, I said to my girlfriend we could have a sauna in our narrowboat. She thought this ridiculous. We played with the tape measure and it seems perfectly sensible to me. 3 weeks ago at a local harbour here in Kokkola a man washing his wooden sailing boat asked would I like to look inside? - so I did and guess what he had right up at the nose of the boat... a little sauna! With tiny stove. So... not impossible!

 

Saunas are good for washing in, nice warm rooms. Good for drying things in also, such as clothes.

 

Anyone here have a sauna in their boat? Pros & cons = ?

[Guest]

Fri 4th Oct

 

Living in Finland and used to sauna, I said to my girlfriend we could have a sauna in our narrowboat. She thought this ridiculous. We played with the tape measure and it seems perfectly sensible to me. 3 weeks ago at a local harbour here in Kokkola a man washing his wooden sailing boat asked would I like to look inside? - so I did and guess what he had right up at the nose of the boat... a little sauna! With tiny stove. So... not impossible!

 

Saunas are good for washing in, nice warm rooms. Good for drying things in also, such as clothes.

 

Anyone here have a sauna in their boat? Pros & cons = ?

 

 

Condensation, masses of it.

[Alastair]

Losing space to a one-use room.

 

Condensation

 

and, erm, condensation.

[Chalky]

I remember seeing an advert for a narrow boat a few years ago that had a sauna and it stuck in my mind since I'd seen it moored in Oxford. I think the boat was called "Hermynous Peoples" or something like that. It has/had a mermaid painted on the side and was moored between the water point and the railway bridge on the way out of Oxford.

 

Found it - http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/advert.phtml?id=155912

Edited October 4, 2013 by Chalky

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

Hi ya,

My wife is disabled,& to make life easier in our last boat with a fairly small shower area & with little elbow room,I fitted a multi nozzle,multi hight shower affair from foot to ceiling,6 nozzle in all.& a folding seat for her to sit on.each nozzle was fitted with an on/off tap.an extra pump & accumulator needed to be fitted & connected to kick in when all 6 nozzles are being used,& we found that so long as we had a full tank of hot water,courtesy of the 70ltr ish calorifire after cruising,the Eberspatcher D5 coped well for the 2 showers .Now we like our daily showers HOT.not a sauna,granted,but hot which ment steam.

I fitted 1 fan @ low level blowing into cubicle,& 2 fans in ceiling to expel the steam.All on a 5min runover timer.

Yes,a bit of work.

Yes,extravagant,by some peoples standards.

No condensation issues for us though.

& as liveaboards,made our quality of life much easier aboard.

So where there's a will,there's often a way.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Paul's Nulife4-2

[BargeeSpud]

Not something I would have, but go for it. It's that sort of thinking that makes boating fun with everyone's ideas of what to put in a boat being so different. Long may that continue.

 

Good luck with the project my friend.

[jake_crew]

IIRC Dover had a sauna fitted during the refit by Alan Herd for the TV series.

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

Hi spuds,

Oh I agree

Its not everyone's cup of tea,it just worked for us.(& I was board 1 w/end)

& All ideas,are good ideas,but some are 'gooder' than others.

[Emerald Fox]

Sauna isn't a "luxury" in Finland - blimey, it's just a room with a stove! You sit on a wooden bench and have a natter, and pop out onto the verandah (roof of boat?) for some beer, then back in again - a good way to start a Saturday morning

Why would there be condensation? The room would be sealed(ish) - window a bit open or a vent?

The stove would have to be wood-fired, would take far too much electrickery. As they say, sticks and stones will make my sauna, Wordsworth liked his wellies...

[OldGoat]

Sauna isn't a "luxury" in Finland - blimey, it's just a room with a stove! You sit on a wooden bench and have a natter, and pop out onto the verandah (roof of boat?) for some beer, then back in again - a good way to start a Saturday morning

Why would there be condensation? The room would be sealed(ish) - window a bit open or a vent?

The stove would have to be wood-fired, would take far too much electrickery. As they say, sticks and stones will make my sauna, Wordsworth liked his wellies...

I suspect there could be some BSS issues, and even if resolved there could be challenges with future examinations.

Box ticking folk aren't good when presented with different ideas....

[blackrose]

 

I said to my girlfriend we could have a sauna in our narrowboat. She thought this ridiculous.

 

And she was right!

Edited October 6, 2013 by blackrose

[Barry]

I wonder if people are confusing a sauna with a steam room.

 

I can see that a steam room would be a major problem on a boat because of condensation.

 

But a sauna is a very dry hot room with a little water thrown on the stones from time to time to make the environment habitable. Provided the sauna was vented adequately I don't see why it couldn't work on a boat

Edited October 6, 2013 by Bazza2

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

After all,most saunas I've seen are infact made in a wooden room of sorts.& how much wetter can a shower room get,after a cpl of showers anyway.mine gets drenched every day.

Still not my cup of tea,but each to there own.

[steven wilkinson]

All ideas,are good ideas,but some are 'gooder' than others.

 

I like that a lot! I hope you don't mind if I pinch it and put it up in my classroom!

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

Pls,Feel free,the copy rites have expired !

[Charlotte Burnett]

When you do, tell me where you are moored, the only place I can get a decent one is the Finnish church in Rothehithe!

 

ETA - if you have a tug, stick a hot tub on the front deck too.....god I wish Roe had a tug deck!

Edited October 6, 2013 by Charlotte Burnett

[mrsmelly]

Its like a sauna in our boat2day. Stoves on as it should be in october, the missus has the oven for one of the rare occasions we eat onboard and its bloomin boilin ott and sunny 2day also

 

Tim