In the weeds

Not sure where that expression came from, but ever since it started cooling off a bit, everything started growing again and the weeds are threatening to take over the boat yard. It's really not too bad especially given that there hasn't been a need to trim anything since I moved onto the boat at the end of April. However, with the owners getting ready for the end of the season, they've decided to use weed killer to get it under control.

It's a big yard and the kid spraying it isn't really setting any speed records, so they may not even reach me before I leave, but just in case, I spent an hour this morning weeding around the boat to obviate any spraying around here. I don't want Zoe anywhere near that stuff, and she normally sleeps under the boat while I'm working.

I actually trimmed the vines and shrubs along the fence near my transom last night to try to keep the bugs, especially spiders, away from the boat. If I had a machete, I could quickly trim everything, but all I have are scissors and my rig axe. The rig axe is great for trees, but not good at all for weeds/grass. However, the scissors helped out a lot with the vines and small branches. I'll move stuff around a bit more this evening and clean up along the fence line and the other side of the boat. I'm mainly concerned with the area under and around the boat as well as the uphill area where a couple of derelict boats are stored, but it's so thick there, that I might not have much luck unless I can find a machete or sickle.

It was hot yesterday and even hotter today, but the forecast is for cooler weather for the foreseeable future, so maybe we've gotten over the hump. I still haven't done any painting though. I found a few more nicks on the deck and decided to go ahead and fix all of them while waiting for it to cool off -- I'd planned on priming it first, then just fixing what the primer didn't cover. I was going to try to finish up today, but it's too hot.

With the heat and humidity, there's really only a few short windows during the day when you can work with epoxy and expect it to come out well -- it either won't gel, or gels way to fast. I've been able to get almost all the filling done over the last week, but have had to throw out about half of it the last several times because it gelled before I could use it all. I'm sure there are better ways to mix it, but I'm basically learning as I go. I'm only able to mix and work with about an ounce at a time. Since the primer is also a two part epoxy, I'm afraid I'll have problems with it too if it's too hot.

Zoe watch:

She's sleeping under the newly weeded boat right now, but I think she preferred the weeds. She didn't say anything, but did look at me sorta funny while I was moving stuff around and pulling weeds. She got her bath a couple days ago, so she's all clean and shiny now. I don't plan to shave her down again, but it'll still take a couple of months for her fur to grow back. However, if we go South soon, I might need to revisit that -- the high in Clear Lake today is expected to be 95, with a heat index of around 105. I still don't know how hot the boat will get once it's in the water. I'm planning on adding canvas shades, e.g., dodger and bimini, as well as insulation between the deck and headliner, but that might not be enough.