Blue Mind barge was partly inspired by my eccentric friend Paul who plonked a cast iron bathtub on a stretch of river bank in Kent. The water came from the river, the heat from a small fire under the bath and the magic from the expansive sky, the dew on the grass, the symphony of being imnmersed in nature. Following the bath, I had one of the most restorative naps of my life. That bath has stayed with me as a kind of peak, salutary experience to an unpretentious moment of simplicity and bliss that inspired me to both put a bathtub on the roof of my boat and to invest my energy into creating the blue mind barge, which in some ways is nothing more than a 62 meter bathtub in the middle of London.

The sauna is a kind of chapel. A heartwarming place of rest, purification and reflection. Bathing in the sauna is not really passive, there is stilling, focusing and resilience required to negotiate and ride with the heat, a meditation on heat. We sweat, our heart rate soars, anxieties and dross of the mind are cooked off, coaxing us to a more connected and peaceful place.

In the UK, the sauna is often perceived as a hot, stuffy, slightly dank box in the basement of a gym or leisure centre. An afterthought, something to possibly sit in briefly after a workout. At the heart of the blue mind barge is the principle that the sauna should be celebrated, elevated, and put at the forefront of the bathing experience.

Our belief is that the sauna deserves to be lifted out of the basement, bathed in natural light and should offer views over the waterspace. It should be crafted rather than constructed, using expert craftsmanship, quality timber, natural insulation with consideration given to qualities of light, ventilation, shape and maybe even spirit.

+Wild swimming has been rediscovered as a practice or tool for managing difficulties and offering a communion with the natural world and her elements, a space without tech, alone or with company of others in convivial pursuit of healing, meaning, and joy.