Day 282

Above the photo shows the lower door in place. Note how long the hinges are. This is so the door, while open, will lay close to the sole in the cockpit. I made it as small as possible to use up a minimal amount of space.
Ready for rod to be welded on.		The hinge pins will be bolts welded to the attached hinges so the door cannot be removed while closed. ( Security measure ) While welding on the rod, the whole door warped and needed to carefully be straightened with a sledge hammer. It took a while but eventually I got it! The top door ( left pic ) was started next. I almost made the bottom door too small as I had forgotten about the over lapping lip that protrudes. It comes within 1/4" of the seat. Another thing I never thought of was the size of the scrap plate we have. It never dawned on me that it wouldn't be big enough height-wise! A 2" SS flatbar was added ( which took extra time ) and also needed to be straightened. Welding 1/8" SS edge to edge isn't easy. I thought the was the last of the mistakes when we discovered the hinges for the top door were misplaced! The ones I was so proud of must be cut off and moved inward another inch. I was quite upset, and still am. The door cannot be opened fully as the cockpit seat is in the way!
I know exactly what happened. The starboard side from the door frame is about 1" wider than the port side. When I had measured it, we had full intentions on having the door open to starboard. Then for some reason we decided to have it open to port instead. It had something to do with the speed/sonar gauge (to be mounted on this bulkhead) and the water heater.
		Anyway, I just assumed ( Ass-U-me ) that the distance would be the same. It wasn't. Duh! Now Gena will need to dig the foam out in the area so I can cut off and re-weld the hinges. I didn't throw things and have a fit as I usually would, but came close. Gena had a much better day than I did. She cut up the flooring for the pilot house and the aft stateroom, and set it into place.
The photos below show the flooring. The aft is really cool, and has more room than expected. This flooring ( photo right ) is the level part. Another foot or so will angle slightly. On land this may be a problem, but at sea "level" is a relative term. That flooring will be level while heeled on a starboard tack. Gena also floored in the head area but I couldn't get a decent photo because of too much in the way.

Day 282:
7 hours:
Finished bottom entry door, started top door, put in the rest of flooring.