An Ode to Heat
It’s hot. In drips and drabs its been getting hotter, but now it is undeniably warm. The air is in the low 90s mid-day – and about 1,000,000,000 in the direct sun. (All temperatures are in Fahrenheit – my attempt to convert to metric has not reached Celsius.) The temperature doesn’t dip below low 80s at night. The air is humid. The water is in the 80s.
The one meter around the stove is approximately in the heliosphere. Human contact is like two molten pieces of metal touching. It’s 90 degrees below decks by 9 AM. The deck reaches active volcano temperatures by 10 AM.
There is no “cool side” of the pillow – there is only a hot side and a very warm side. The fridge is beginning to strain under the pressure. The water coming out of the tanks is like a just-cooled tea kettle. The heads feel like small convection ovens.
The dew starts right after sunset. The moment the sun dips cheers erupt and the deck starts to get wet. By morning the deck is soaking and bees by the 100s– desperate for water – have taken up position collecting water to survive another dry summer day.
The water clarity is increasing. Places we stopped on the way north that were murky now have 10s of feet of clarity. Sometimes it’s so hot in the direct sun that fish hide in the shade of the boat. Note this may not be why the fish are hanging out there but that’s the story I tell myself.
The clouds come more often, providing welcome relief but also trapping the heat from radiating back out into space, where it would presumably go for 10s of light years given how hot it is. They bring the hope of rain, but no actual precipitation.
The occasional helado treat is nothing compared to a cold sports drink, preferably from the stand up refrigerator at a small super mercado. The first few sips feel like drinking from a glacial stream, that happens to be infused with sugar. Drink it fast or it will soon be 90 degrees.
Like we’ve done with weather and wave forecasts, we shop for temperature forecasts – not looking for the one that is most accurate per se, but better fits our mood. Armageddon feeling today? Pick the forecast that says it will be 99 by 1 PM. Ready to explore new beaches, coves, and sea scapes? It’s only going to be 90! Promising everyone that tonight will be a great sleep – find the forecast that says it will get down to 79 tonight!
And yet it’s not really that hot yet. By July and August, the combined temperature, humidity, and UV index will lead to weather that feels “oppressive” according to one meteorological website.
It is beautiful here and there is nothing really to complain about. This is how this landscape and seascape has been shaped since it was a lush peninsula 12,000 years ago. But these Pacific Northwesterners thought that they had gotten acclimatized. We cheered in February when it was in the mid-80s during the day on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Only now do we realize how far we have to go.
The laptop has reached the temperature of fresh baked lasagna, time to finish this essay. Somewhere a sports drink calls our names.
(As of this writing at 9 AM, it is 90.6 degrees below decks, 88.7 in the cockpit, and 82.2 in the water).