How did you secure the floor to the cockpit? It looks like it is in sections. How well does it stay together or stable when sailing/heeling?
Shanker
Hi Shanker,
The floor should show up a little better in these pics. We have not sailed with it yet but it seems to be very secure. There are no screws going into the actual boat. It is locked around the pedestal as 1 piece and its size/shape keeps it from moving. It unbolts back to two pieces for removing and cleaning underneath. It was a little bit of work fitting everything, but came out nice and tight. It was the mod I was looking forward to most so saved it until the end to keep myself motivated.
The total supplies for it were six 1"x6"x8', one 2"x8"x8', and 1lb stainless 1-5/8" deck screws. So pretty minimal. Basically I ripped 5 boards down to 1.75 wide pieces and routed the edges with a .5 radius to make the strips. The front piece fits between the pedestal and cabin. Underneath it I have two 2.5" wide boards that run perpendicular to the flooring holding everything together and a 5" wide joist piece that is half under the front and half under the back decking. All the screws on the front half are run from underneath and hidden. I could not hide them in the back and had to go from above. The strips are all spaced 1/4" apart. The rear also uses two joists resting on the cockpit floor, and 2 joists in the back. To keep everything level in front of the steering linkage is a 2x8 ripped to 7-1/8" if I remember correct and in the back I basically built a box 7-3'8" tall in each corner cutting away where the steering needs to run. It all fits tightly in place and the two halves are screwed together locked in by the pedestal. To remove it both pieces lift up and out when you take out the screws holding the back half to the front. Next up is taking it back out and staining and sealing it.
I also removed the helm seat to open everything up, the cockpit seems much larger now. Not sure if I will modify the old one, build a new one, or just go without. I have seen a lot of good ideas on here. We are going to take it out his afternoon so should get a better feel for it.
I also started making a fair weather plexi door for the cabin out of some extra I had from another project, I need to order one more piece for the bottom yet. We used this last weekend and it was nice to be able to look out while on anchor and quickly see where you are at.
picture you can see in the grime where it was originally, and also how little space there is behind it without the deck. 
, to move the dinnette to where the head area is, and move the head back to where the 
is and build in a shower.
