New to Florida HEAT!

[BandB]

I don't get it. TX population growth is a bit more than even FL.

Texas growth is fueled on high tech and on major industry. Some major companies have moved, especially from California, companies like Toyota. Texas growth is in spite of climate, Florida's is because of climate. Texas growth is economically generated with business opportunity. Florida isn't business or industry geared but heavily tourism.

You want to talk about a booming city that people love to visit and with the most horrendous climate, just look at Las Vegas. They've been at least 103 since Saturday and every day until September 9 is expected to be over 100 with many as high as 113 and 114. However, much of their winter is still highs in the 50's and lows in the 30's.

 

[Benthic2]

NPR has an article about a recent study that heat can affect your mental state as well as your physical one:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health...gic-research-shows-it-can-slow-your-brain-too

 

[OldDan1943]

If I get too hot working outside, I go into an air conditioned space drink a glass of room temp water and take a nap.
A nap in the AC is very refreshing.

 

[Bay Pelican]

Before air-conditioning Florida south of Tampa was scarcely populated. There was a reason.

 

[racerrick]

As big a problem in the early morning & the evening are the no see-ums, particularly if you're on the hard near the water & vegetation & mangroves. Go on line "no see-ums", lots of references to 100% DEET & traps that will keep a 300 sq. ft. to 1/2 acre area clear. Sprays also available for vegetation & hard surfaces. Just got back from a week on the boat at Cape Haze - they were vicious never mind the heat/humidity.

 

[psneeld]

Noseeums are a coastal problem all the way to Jersey....usually associated with heat as they disappear soon as the breeze pops up.

 

[Captain DJ]

Lots of good advice here. I live on the Sea of Cortez in Sonora, Mexico (where the capitol Hermosillo often exceeds 120 degree F) but it is a dry heat. The humidity combined with the heat is the killer. South Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama coastlines and deep Florida are "oppressive" heat & humidity combinations.

I worked outdoors and had a 42 Grand Banks woodie for 15 years while living in Alabama and Key West. I can share one of my best tips and a small piece of advice.

Get a Camelbak or similar device and fill it with ice, as much as it can hold, then water. Wear it to keep your core cooler and stay hydrated. Refill with ice often.

Second tip is start your day as early as possible and get done by lunch. With Summer we have long days, take advantage and be at it a half hour before official sunrise. I always was able to get 80% of my outdoor work done by 10 AM. -

Also, realize, you will lose weight if you stick to this. Folks will not only be complimenting your boat, they will notice all the weight you have shed and "sooo fast!"

Good luck.

 

[dennismenace111]

Just hauled La Bella Vita for a few months. I need to do some work, but WOW it get's hot during the day! I plan on painting the bottom myself. I've done it plenty of times. In NY I had a sweatshirt on and long paints. Also, I usually like to wax the hull myself. It gives me the time to really get a good look at the condition, plus I know it gets done correctly. Again, never in this heat and humidity.

I was thinking of setting up a kiddie pool and a solar shower. Get to the yard early AM and as it heats up, just go over to the kiddie pool and get a quick dunking with the shower. Drink plenty of water and just grind thru it all.

Friends have all conceded to paying someone for these services. I calculate a savings of $2000 between paint and wax. I would buy the paint one way or the other. The labor for waxing is $450 and $1700 for 2 coats of ablative. (labor only)

Anyone in the HOT locations do their own work? I guess heart attack should be in the formula? Heat stroke?

Buddy
La Bella Vita

Most Floridians wait till February to do these things! Get yourself a big straw lifeguard hat and a long sleeved shirt that wicks away persperation. Wet yourself down with fresh water frequently and if you can, rent a large shop fan! It will help the water evaporate from your shirt and help keep you cool. With our high humidity, persperation doesn't evaporate without some help ftom a fan!

 

[jimisbell]

No-See-Ums are easy to control. Just clip a sheet of Bounce fabric softener to your shirt pocket. They will stay away.....but you will smell like a French Whore.....no, I dont know first hand.

 

[psneeld]

Bounce had never worked for anything but fabric softener for me...

Maybe Bounce fits in like different repellants, certain ones work better for others ....like the original Skin So Soft....never worked for me, but others swear by it.

Kinda like the heat thing, what works for some, doesn't for others.

 

[ALAN54]

I have done the sanding, painting waxing myself several times on my mainship 30.
Now, I pay someone to do the sanding and I do the painting and waxing. Trying to suit up to sand in this heat is tough to say the least.

 

[twiisted71]

Buffett didn't make up the name Kinja, or the island for that matter. He adapted a Herman Wouk book, Don't Stop the Carnival.

My wife and I moved to St Thomas for a job in '05. During orientation it was suggested that I get and read "Don't stop the Carnival". St Thomas is the real setting for the book. I can say from first hand experience that it was unbelievable how accurate the book still was at that time in describing the locals and their attitudes.
Don't worry if you are going there on a cruise you will NEVER see the real St Thomas.

So far as doing a bottom job on your boat in summer in S Fla..... We lived in Cape Coral and did our Mainship haulouts in Ft Myers. Get to the boatyard before daylight, have everything set-up and ready to paint as soon as you can see enough to not miss any spots. Dump any pooled water out of Biminis/awnings, mop up and standing water on decks etc that might run over the side and into your fresh paint. If hull is wet from dew or from your ponding removal efforts, give it a quick once over with a windshield squeegee and start rolling. Don't sweat (pun) any small amounts of moisture on the hull. That should give you plenty of time to get a full coat of paint on her, tinker with any thru-hulls, re-install props, etc and then give another coat along the waterline and any corners and be outta there by 11:00am latest! Ample time for the paint to bake before the 3pm thunderstorms. Be sure to secure all your supplies before leaving the yard or you may find the 40-50 mph winds will have redistributed them.
We'd usually go back when the sun set enough to start casting shadows enough to let things begin to cool and replace anodes etc that didn't require a fine eye for detail.
If your boat takes on water from rain be sure to allow for a way for the water to get out (bilge pumps or drain plug). I've seen several boats damaged over the years due to rain water accumulation and ground softening during a haulout.
I agree that Gatorade and other sport drinks can be hard to take. I found that mixing it 1/2-n-1/2 with water makes it much more palatable and with the amount you should be drinking, you'll still get plenty of electrolytes.
PS always start working on the side that will be hit with sunlight first!

If you are looking for bottom paint, I highly recommend SuperShipBottom right there in Ft Myers. I had excellent experiences with it on my 26 Shamrock as well as the 34 Mainship. I have no connection with the company.

 

[KidSheeleen]

You can buy/rent a cheap awning or large beach umbrella for shade. Work as early as the marina/yard will allow. then after 4:00 till they kick you out. Worst factor this time of year is the lightning storm. Do not work outside if you hear the thunder as over 5 souls have perished so far this 2018 year and have several more rain months to go.

 

[dennismenace111]

Excellent point about our afternoon thunder and lightening storms. They are a fact of life in South Florida and are quite dangerous. If you hear the thunder it's time to seek shelter!

 

[markpierce]

Typical summer day here in the greater San Francisco Bay Area: highs vary from 75 to 96 and lows 61 to 65 depending on location. Typically, hot locations cool down 30 degrees overnight, thanks to low humidity. Walks are best taken in the morning in the warmer areas.

 

[BandB]

Wifey B: Tomorrow in Montreal, 88 degrees.

 

[cabinetman1955]

Heat & Humidity

The Worst thing is not following the manufactures recommendations for the products you are using.
high temps or humidity will damage the paint when you put it on. I see many people using products in high humidity and then complain when they don't get any life out of the product!

 

[Mule]

Its cooler in Dallas now. All that global warming is just Dallas exporting product.

Uggg, not this or next week or until????

109 yesterday, 110 projected for today..more of the same coming.

What to do about FL heat, get in condition. Go to North Texas now. Roof a house, pour some concrete and at the same time you can brush up on your Spanglish. Come back to FL. It will seem like heaven.

 

[Gmarr]

Excellent point about our afternoon thunder and lightening storms. They are a fact of life in South Florida and are quite dangerous. If you hear the thunder it's time to seek shelter!

From my time of living in Tampa, it was easier to set my alarm to 3:57 Pm to allow 3 minutes to get inside!

 

[BandB]

Uggg, not this or next week or until????

109 yesterday, 110 projected for today..more of the same coming.

What to do about FL heat, get in condition. Go to North Texas now. Roof a house, pour some concrete and at the same time you can brush up on your Spanglish. Come back to FL. It will seem like heaven.

And that my friends is why the Texas Rangers are building a new domed stadium. Playing baseball when it's 107 degrees, probably more like 130 degrees on the field is challenging. Attending such a game is ...... well, not sure what word would describe.

Meanwhile 2017 was the hottest summer ever for Miami and it did hit 98.

 

[jimisbell]

Typical summer day here in the greater San Francisco Bay Area: highs vary from 75 to 96 and lows 61 to 65 depending on location. Typically, hot locations cool down 30 degrees overnight, thanks to low humidity. Walks are best taken in the morning in the warmer areas.

Typical summer day here in Corpus Christi. Forcast to be 114F Heat Index and that is a degree cooler than average.

 

[hmason]

Noseeums are a coastal problem all the way to Jersey....usually associated with heat as they disappear soon as the breeze pops up.

All the way up to CT as well.

 

[Miz Trom]

My plan for beating the FL heat is quite simple. In a perfect world I would leave SW FL April 1st and arrive at the Lake Superior locks June 15th. Out of Lake Superior mid August and off the Great Lakes by Labor day. Cross the FL line on November 1st. Now all I have to do is convince my wife that's her plan.

That's similar to our plan, Ted, only we plan to leave next March 1st not April 1st. We had originally planned to leave March 1st, 2017, but an unethical boat builder derailed that plan, and then he derailed our March 1st, 2018 embark date, also.

We try very hard to not do any exterior boat work other than cleaning during the summer months here in Floriduh. (The reason I refer to my beloved native state as "Floriduh" is the polluted condition of our waterways that is growing worse every year.)

As others have noted, boat projects are for winter down here. The OP must be in a hurry to get his bottom painting finished, because the SW Floriduh heat is starting to become unbearable for us as we have aged into our 60's. I feel sorry for him.

This graphic below illustrates what it feels like now in July, and we haven't hit the hottest months of Aug/Sept yet.

Pea

 

[cardude01]

What did the boat builder do? Or can it be discussed here?

 

[Mule]

And that my friends is why the Texas Rangers are building a new domed stadium. Playing baseball when it's 107 degrees, probably more like 130 degrees on the field is challenging. Attending such a game is ...... well, not sure what word would describe.

Meanwhile 2017 was the hottest summer ever for Miami and it did hit 98.

Well, I was in Arlington or eastern Fort Worth from 1986 to 2009. It was just about as hot then as now. Wonder why the Arlington City Leaders and Texas Rangers Management did not note that it was hot in Texas in 1990 when they were planning the building of the beautiful stadium that belonged in ohhh say Chicago? Lotta tax dollars flushed by not doing it right the first time...shame really. I worked on the fiber telco install as a splicer for then Southwestern Bell.

 

[jimisbell]

Dallas was not built AFTER AC was common. I lived there when most houses and businesses were un air conditioned. We survived by slowing down. When you saw someone walking fast in July you knew they were a Yankee. In July you sat on the shaded front porch under the Cottonwood tree, NOT INSIDE, sipped an iced tea and slowly rocked back and forth while gently fanning your face with a Japanese fan and talking politics. Being very careful to keep the politics at a comfortable level so no one got over heated. That last probably would be difficult to do today so Thank God we have air conditioning.

 

[Mule]

Soooo, you remember Attic Fans and sleeping next to a window open about 10 inches. Going to bed right after a cool shower...

You know what I miss about all that?

Not a damn thing!

 

[diver dave]

Soooo, you remember Attic Fans and sleeping next to a window open about 10 inches. Going to bed right after a cool shower...

You know what I miss about all that?

Not a damn thing!

My grand dad had the exact same story. Life in Miami in the '20s. Air con?? shoot, there wasn't even refrigeration! You do know the power company started as an Ice house at what is now substation #1, in downtown Miami. My mom was one of the first police dispatchers in Miami in the 40's. They just got radios then. My other grand dad was a dry cleaner in Miami in the '20's. They used white gas as the cleaning fluid. My grade school, way up north in Lake Worth, didn't have a/c until the mid '60s. Wow, some stories from those times....

 

[OldDan1943]

Back in the middle 50s hung a sign on the move theater hung a sign, "It's Kool inside".
Walk to the theater in a Michigan summer, you go inside and you thought it was COLD, until you got used to it then, it was just right. Going back outside for the walk home, was punishment and no cooler at home.

 

[jimisbell]

Soooo, you remember Attic Fans and sleeping next to a window open about 10 inches. Going to bed right after a cool shower...

You know what I miss about all that?

Not a damn thing!

You forgot "swamp coolers" and moldy leather shoes in the back of the closet.

And the coffee can swamp coolers for the car? Back in the "good old Daze"

Wife would hate to pull the string on the car swamp cooler because she would get a shower until the water blew off. I was driving so it didnt bother me, just the front seat passenger got wet.

And yes, the attic fans. I have one in this house but with AC and electric so cheap, it gets no use at all.

and I agree, dont miss it at all, but do admit I have become a sissy. Not sure I could live that way now. No wonder life expectancy was only 65!!

I am sitting here looking out the window at the bay, outside temp is 114F apparent and inside its a nice cool Aircondioned 79F .

You know, even in july it only costs me $200 a month to stay cool and I will bet that in Wisconsin it costs more than that to keep warm in the winter.....