The Floor is Finally Finished

 

A while back we were in my messy garage,

I mean...my "workshop",

painting floorboards and Finding that Perfect Arc.

 

After all the painting was done, those boards spent a week in the shade, three days in the sun, and then another in my dining room

(it was raining outside).

 

Happy floorboards, basking in the sun.

 

Today was the big day.

I woke up, excited about putting them in the boat.

I drank a half-gallon of coffee - and found myself even more excited

(and a little dizzy).

 

I loaded them into my truck, drove to the docks,

and carefully placed each board in the spot it had been designed for.

 

The result:

Floorboards that shine almost as much as the new trim that went on before Nationals in November,

a gorgeous boat with a burgundy theme color,

and a huge smile on my face.

 

My wife is happier now too,

because those boards aren't in the dining room anymore.

 

Burgundy stripes on the remo match the new floorboards.

Looking at the gondola known as "Lucia",
you can see that the trastolini boards have matching burgundy paint,
but it appears to have a flat finish in a slightly lighter shade.

After years of stepping on wet trastolini boards
(and almost killing myself),
I decided to finish them with a non-skid surface.

The ones in front are always painted in the same color as the floor,
but the trastolini in back are traditionally black.
This makes it hard to see where you're stepping in the dark.
Over the years, with each haulout,
I've systematically painted those rear trastolini boards with the theme color of the floor instead,
and like the forward trastolini - they are non-skid.

Interlux sells a product called Intergrip; it's a nonskid compound
(really it's just fine sand).
Mix the intergrip in with your paint,
and you've got nonskid - in whichever color you prefer.

So the floor of the Lucia is finally finished.
Now I can focus my attention on the twenty-thousand other things I need to do before Valentine's Day.