More main cabin floors

More work on the main cabin floors this weekend. This is where the galley, sitting room, Sams cabin, forward head, etc will be located. Its a pretty big area and there are some floor elevation changes due to the tankage and the way the boat sweeps up to the bow. The first three frames forward of the engine room will be the galley and dinette. We were originally going to have the dinette forward of the galley on the same side, but after playing around with a measuring tape we decided that it would be too tight for a four person dinette ahead of the galley. So the plan is now to use a 90 degree stairway from the wheelhouse instead of a straight ladder. This will allow us to put the dinette at the same level as the galley, directly opposite, on the starboard side. It is a compromise on the larger straight stairs we originally had in mind, but a big improvement on our layout down below. I've done a lot of drawing and doodling for this project but there's still no substitute for mocking things up life size in the actual space. Ahead of the galley area, there is a step up in elevation that will access the sitting room which will be about 6 by 12 feet. Forward of this will be Sam's cabin to starboard and a small day head to port. The galley area sub-floor is done and I've started to frame out the sitting room floor. Also have to build foundation for the forward tanks and get them installed before I deck over this area. 

Starting Main Cabin Floors

With the aft cabin floor finished, we are moving on to the main cabin. Began some basic framing and lay out work this week. Our friend, John Simpkins came down from Seattle for a visit so we put him to work. He brought some damp northwest weather with him, but still managed to rough polish most of the bitts on deck, and and helped with some interior stuff too. Looks like more rain this weekend so I installed the last opening port which goes in the scuttle at the aft wheelhouse door.

Finishing aft cabin sub-floor

Finished the aft cabin sub-floor with all access hatches cut and framed out. With everything "glued and screwed", the floor in the aft cabin has really stiffened up and feels very solid to walk on. This area was a challenge because there wasn't much room above the integral fuel tanks for framing and we had to watch the height of the floor structure or we would lose too much headroom. The system that we came up with worked well with just enough support and not too much structure underneath to get in the way of the tanks. We also installed the Black Water tank which fit up well. I'm getting the hang of laying out and installing access hatches for below deck areas that we need to get to for inspections and systems installation.  Sue has been doing some prep and painting on the hatches and watertight doors. Next we'll be moving on to the forward cabin sub-floor. Nice to get some "walking around room". 

Aft cabin sub-floor

Moving on to the aft cabin floor now... same drill as the passageway floor but a little more complicated with more hatches and a black-water tank below deck. installed the tank and began framing up for the hatch coamings. Need to decide exactly where all the bulkheads and built in cabinetry is going in the aft cabin in order to finalize the hatch layout but I have a pretty good start... Also did a little work in the engine room on valves and manifolds.