i just set my paddock on fire (again)

[cooper]

Its hot, bloody hot and looks like it will stay that way for a bit longer. Today has not been a day of "total fire ban" so I took the opportunity to weld in some ss bars on the boat I am building....and I set the paddock on fire again. Last summer it happened a few times and I just jumped down and put it out with the knapsack. Today it went woosh...luckily my brother had set up the fire pump the day before to run it, so all I had to do was kick it in the guts and run with the hose. Tommorrow is a day of total fire ban so its back to painting....does anyone else have these kinds of "distractions " to their boat works........

[Pblais]

does anyone else have these kinds of "distractions " to their boat works....

Sounds like standard stuff working on a boat. I don't generally start things on fire but there are a million ways for injury, death, and assorted degrees of destruction. New methods seem to pop up all the time.

I'm doing a bit of wiring these days. I have not shocked myself or started any fires yet. I may of ruined a shirt though. I'm not done yet either so the bill is still open. The serious problem is if you don't so something like start a fire you can bet you forgot to get something at the store even if you just got back.

Being impatient is a bad habit is boating or boat building. Stay cool, be safe.

[Liberty28]

I saw the word "paddock" in your thread title and I thought "it's gotta be an Aussie!". Good on ya, mate!!!

[cooper]

thanks for the replies. Its not that I am impatient, (well just a little) its that the forecast, typical of melbourne is for rain in a few days time. I have my front windows out. sincere thanks Paul and liberty kind words, cure. My interior is basically finished up front with a lot of timber and trim. I also am sleeping on the boat (in the paddock) and of course all my clothes are directly under the now out windows. I do find it frustrating to have to "tarp and tape". It takes so long, and then i have to tear it all off again. oh well I will get there....



ps i have burnt a whole pile of marks in that pilot berth from this little stuff up....

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by cooper

its that the forecast, typical of melbourne is for rain in a few days time.

Eh... nature will take care of your paddock fire.

Weld on!

[Zach]

Sounds like fun! Better the paddock than your jeans... "I smell something burning..." lift the hood, "It's ME!"

I'm wondering how temporary a structure you can build around the boat, that would be legal to weld inside...

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Cooper,
Your project looks good. I have the opposite problem here. Constant rain except for the last couple weeks when we actually had great weather with only light showers in the evening. Had to climb up on the house roof and fix a skylight that was leaking. 130 inches a year.
JohnL

[Alan Wheeler]

So are you saying that welding is Banned, or just the fact you could start a fire, it is best not to weld. Because no that the grass is all burned away, surely it is safe to weld now.

Hey what's wrong with the word Padock??
Oz and Kiwi Farmers are all true proffesionasl. Because the Farmers are all outstanding in their fields. thankyou thankyou, I'll be here all week. :-)

[Boracay]

Keep up the good work.

At least you are doing it in a paddock where everything stands still.

And you can probably spray.

[cooper]

Hi all

"I smell something burning..." lift the hood, "It's ME!"

I learnt early on that to get a really neat weld run , you had to put the fire burning on your jeans out after you finished ! Its the little balls of molten steel that run down your sleeve that brings tears to your eyes.
Alan we have restrictions here on hot days that ban any solid fuel fires, burning off, and a host of other things including welding and grinding outdoors. The fines (and possible jail) are large. The ban is issued the previous day and last to the following midnight. Setting the paddock on fire is not such a problem if it moves slowly, in fact last year I let it burn around the boat as much as possible. But it has now become so dry that with a bit of a breeze it could really get going. I would not want to be responsible for incinerating the district. 38 again today and 36 tomorrow. Showers Tuesday.

[Jentine]

"Paddock" is that a place outside the barn where the horses are set loose during the day?

[cooper]

........seriously is "paddock" an odd word outside of Oz and NZ....? An old Australian saying for someone who is a bit nutty is that they "have a kangaroo loose in the top paddock"...

[Connemara]

Outside of Oz and NZ (certainly here in the frozen North) a paddock is a place where horses graze. Alternatively, it's part of a racecourse.

While I realize that we are divided by a common language, I second Jentine's desire for a definition.


Connemara

[cooper]

A paddock here is the same thing but could be for grazing anything. It could be a few square metres, beside a house for holding animals temporarily (The house paddock) Or it may be several square kilometers such as in out back Australia. In my case the paddock actually has olive trees in it. The back paddock is another expression used here either the furthest paddock from the house or an expression of no longer being of much use, perhaps retired. ie "We stuck him down the back paddock" The top paddock may mean the highest paddock (on a hill) or the one closest to the properties entrance , or the best paddock. Generally it can be anything which has a fence around it without a house ! Except for "the long paddock" which means road side grazing or stock routes. Somtimes in desperation farmers will walk their stock for days along road sides to feed them. The largest properties dont bother with a lot of fencing because the size is to large. They go get their cattle with helicopters.

[Alan Wheeler]

In NZ, we normaly have Grass and other vegetation growing in a Paddock. In OZ, it tends to be red dust or a large Lake divided by fences that just poke through the surface. Maybe they farm fish.
However, many parts of NZ took up the farming of Dust this past year and a few parts on NZ had ago at creating the large lake thingy. But we just don't do either any justice. That's the problem when you are a long narrow country with steep mountains running down the middle.