and a view of the floor, with and without varnish

The strips (naturally) must exactly match and it was perfect - again thanks to Marvin.

Notice how they fitted the flooring around the mast perfectly. In the top part of the picture, the flooring has epoxy applied (which is why it is shiny). The part at the bottom of the picture is raw wood.

My work begins now - it should take about 2 months till I am done varnishing.

Cabin sole work week two...

I know this will sound silly, but when they put the first sections of the new floor in I got tears in my eyes!

It was so beautiful. Marvin had done all the drawings and mechanical calculations during week one.

Here is a picture of the two craftsmen

Marvin came in and they started work on 12/2/2007. Notice the smiles before they began the job.

The first week took a toll; they got all the planning done and 2 of about 15 floor panels. It was looking grim as Christmas was coming and we had to leave to go to Kansas on the 21st so had a hard stop. Marvin could only work till the 20th and week two had a lot of rain.

Replace the cabin sole floor, surely not....

Well, yes it needed to be done and we needed a workshop in which to do it so it had to be done before we left. Also, it needs to be varnished and well cured before it can be installed so I needed to start the varnish soon after the first of the year. I called our friend Marvin and asked if he could help with the floor.

He made a huge mistake and said yes. This is a before picture with all the old flooring removed.

The boat is no better

You would think that with the house and garage trashed with boat refit stuff that the boat would be pristine. Well, ho ho you are thinking wrong. There is no sanctuary for us right now so if we call and ask if we can come over and sit in your clean house or boat perhaps you understand now.

....

Mark found some bubbles in the veneer (drat!) and the jury-rigged this two by four to press against the wall after injecting epoxy behind the bubble.

The living room looks worse!

Things are getting a bit crowded at the duplex with all the boat parts, varnish cans, drop cloths, sewing machines, etc. Every couple of weeks I put everything away and the cleaning lady (Susan) clears out all the varnish dust. I revel in a clean house for about 24 hours then start to destroy it again.

The home varnish booth....

used to be called 'living room' and 'dining room'. This is what the dining room tale looks like most days.

This is the platform (under the chairs) undergoing varnish application.