Another day of hard work

I headed toward the tank this morning just as the full moon was starting to disappear behind a mountain. It was daylight, but in order to get detail on the moon I had to put the camera settings way down, which is why the background looks black. A real photographer, who knew what he was doing, could have taken a more accurate photo (white moon, blue sky).

I'm trying to do more than one gallon of coating a day, since as I get toward the deep end the wall will be taller, and the floor will be wider. Plus I should probably put at least one coat on the top two feet too. If water seeps through and behind the wall, that won't be good. The lower portion is the easiest to do and that's the part that has the most hydrostatic pressure, so that will get priority. I'm sure next year there'll be places that need patching, but nothing like the project this year.

The last two 80° days were already stifling in the tank. And soon it'll be much hotter. But I can only do what I can do. Cleaning the area, readying it for coating, wears me out before I even get started. But I'm finding that if I take a midday siesta I can do a second gallon later in the day. So that's good.

Thinking I have to coat the whole tank is too overwhelming for me. I just do what I'm able, telling myself whatever I get done will help. I'm not putting a second coat on everything, just the bad areas, so what appears done here is basically done, unless I find a pin hole somewhere, then I'll slather more on that spot. Esthetically, I sure hate that I put coloring on that first part I coated. If I actually finish the whole tank, I plan to cover that area white to match everywhere else, but I dare not make that priority right now.

It'll be interesting to see how much it leaks after it fills up. I know me, I'll be terrified to go out and check it the day after a rain. I always am, and for good reason. That's why I'm so determined to seal it. One thing that might slow me down is getting enough coating material. I bought all they have in Alpine, so they'll have to order me more, and I don't know how long that'll take.

The butterfly de jour was this Painted Lady. It preferred the mud at the bottom to the white wall.