The New England coast is beautiful and varied, from the dramatic rocky shores of Maine, to the sandy beaches of Cape Cod to the rocky moraine of Long Island’s north shore. The one thing New England’s coastal waters are not is warm. I remember swimming in Maine when I was in art school in Portland: I would get all hot and sweaty by running or biking to the beach, and jump in and swim a brisk few hundred yards to the astonishment of onlookers who dared not go in past their knees. For most people the swimming season in Maine consist of two weeks in August.
It is no wonder that my last several mobile saunas have found homes near the coast—what a perfect way to extend the swimming season! Cold water and saunas traditionally go together. Ideally the sauna is situated so one can plunge into a lake, pond, stream, or the ocean after each round. With a sauna on wheels you can pull up to your favorite dipping spot and indulge yourself anytime of year. There is nothing like the thrill of jumping through a hole in the ice or plunging next to waterfall in the whiteness of winter.
The mobile unit is fairly clandestine – once the stove reaches temperature the chimney smoke is invisible; no one will suspect you are nearly naked inside basking until you burst out and head for the water. I haven’t had the pleasure of sauna-ing next to the ocean but one of these days I’ll have to travel back to Higgin’s Beach in Maine, sauna in tow, and give onlookers as thrill as I defy the icy winter water with a post-sauna dip.