Writer: Helena Bergström
It happened just as Peter was about to cook us a vegetable soup for lunch. There was a power outage in the houseboat! It had been 13 degrees below zero at night and the ice was slowly starting to surround us, so it didn’t feel great…
Power outage in the houseboat
Just about everything went out: the lights, the stove, the dishwasher, the refrigerator, the boat alarm… None of the other boats along the dock seemed to have a problem, and we quickly realized that the fault was in our houseboat. The earth leakage circuit breaker kept tripping.
It’s never fun to have a power outage, and it can be extra challenging in the winter, when it’s cold. At the moment the ice on Ulvsundasjön is thick and approaching our marina – which tries to stay ice-free with the help of several large propellers in the water. When it gets really cold, there is still ice here and there.
But why did we have a power outage? After a while we came up with one that we made in Today it was different: we had started the heating cable that runs along the pipes with the inlet and outlet water, to prevent this water from freezing. Somehow the problem must be related to this!
We immediately started hunting for electricians. We didn’t want to be without electricity for too long! Of course we can heat the living room by turning on the stove, but there are many more things that no longer work: the refrigerator, the stove, the lights, the flushing of the toilet… well, most of it!
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While waiting for an answer from the electrician, Peter tried to solve the problem. He turned off all the electricity in the boat and started one fuse at a time, without turning on the heating cable. And voila, we had the electricity back!
We initially had the idea to have the electrician come to see what was going on, but the electrician prevented it all. A visit to an electrician would cost least 3,000 SEK, for starters, and maybe he wouldn’t even be able to do anything…
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Now we have electricity, which we are very grateful for. However, we haven’t dared to tackle the heating cable yet, so that will be a problem for later…
Jobs and meetings in the city
This week we have mainly been at home on the houseboat, but there have also been a few meetings in the city. Including at an embassy, where we had coffee with the new ambassador and discussed possible cooperation in the field of tourism. A nice meeting!
This week: Thankful for…
At this point, we’re thankful that we have electricity in the houseboat, and that we haven’t had to spend many thousands (so far) to fix it. We are also grateful for a number of wonderful collaborations that have been concluded. Every week I am also grateful for all the delicious food that Peter cooks here at home!
Your turn… What are you grateful for this week?
Next week
We are still at home in Stockholm for a while. Next week we are going to an interesting travel event, but otherwise we will mainly stay at home and work. At G we have several development projects: on site, at the travel agency and when it comes to events and fairs.
Here at FREEDOMtravel there will be mixed content – including a “behind the scenes” report. For now we wish you a happy Friday and weekend!
Did you miss last Friday’s blog? Read about winter everyday life in the houseboat marina
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