Forepeak

Some pictures here of last weeks project: deck finish for the forepeak. Decided on Armstrong VCT (vinyl composition tile). This is the same stuff you see in supermarkets and public buildings. Comes in 12 x 12 squares, 1/8" thick. Glues down with a special adhesive that works kind of like a one sided contact cement. You apply the adhesive to the sub-floor only with a fine 1/16" trowel then wait for it to tack up before laying down the tile and rolling it out to fix the bond to the floor. The adhesive took a long time to tack up, despite our mild dry weather this year. Even with a couple of space heaters running, it took a few hours for the glue to get dry enough to install the tile. Of course the usual fiddling around with hatches, angles, and trim made this small area a full weekend job...

Fwd floor planking

Some more pictures from last week- continuing the floor planking, moving forward from the galley/dinette area. Still have a couple of minor areas to finish, but this completes most of the plank flooring that I'm going to install. Had one little mishap in the fwd head that put a small ding in the floor there, but a little red mahogany stain touch-up and it blends in pretty well with the surrounding floor. This is why we chose a slightly distressed rustic finish to start with- dings and dents blend in well with a little touch up stain. The flat finish (instead of gloss) should help hide wear and tear as well. Next week, we'll be working on the finished floor in the forepeak and the landing just aft of the forward watertight door. Haven't sourced the material yet but I'm leaning torwards VCT (vinyl composition tile). This is the stuff you see in a lot of commercial applications and in public buildings. It comes in 12x12 glue down tiles that are 1/8"thick and looks to be very durable once installed. Just have to see how slip resistant their "slip resistant finishes" really are before we go this route. The fore peak can also be accessed via a deck hatch leading up to the anchor deck. This is a good steel watertight hatch with a decent height on the hatch coaming, but the area below in the forepeak may still get wet occasionally so we need some moisture resistance here.

More floor planking

Here's some more pics from our ongoing Winter floor project. We are making good progress and should have most of it done by the first part of next week. I'll post some pictures of the finished product then. As a little side project (thats been on my list for a while) I made a mahogany base for the helm chair and  bolted the chair base to the deck in the wheelhouse. We've been very fortunate with our weather... it's been freakishly mild and calm here for many many weeks, with no end to our mostly dry weather in sight. I'll end this set of pictures with yet another beautiful sunrise from our slip at Galilee Harbor in Sausalito. The lumps on the unused float behind us are a colony of Harbor Seals who have taken up residence next door. They are generally pretty quiet and peaceful critters (compared to the Sea Lions around here), but they do make some very strange gurgling, snoring, grunting noises at night.