Click on any image for a larger view..  use your back button to return here..

Eventually I decided to make a mold of the aft portion or the corners of the aft cabin and turn that into an area that would conceal and protect the tanks as best I could

Still un-finished, the locker now holds two propane tanks, the regulator and shut-off solenoid (yet to be installed) as well as our spare stainless 45 pound CQR anchor.
There will also be a small compartment to hold any tools needed to service the propane system or remove the anchor.
All of the teak that you see on Flying Cloud was salvaged from boat yards where other people removed teak decks from their boats and tossed the teak away as if it had no value.

I have even laminated multiple pieces of this teak together to make larger pieces of lumber. All of the teak you see on Flying Cloud was from salvage and cost nothing.

 When this is completed, there will be a cushion to sit-on and a folding backrest with matching cushion.

Starting to layout all the frames and lockers to fit specific items.
The outboard motor will have a separate locker that it fits in very tight. Cradles and solid mounts prevent it from moving around. The Garhauer hoist used to swing the outboard over to the dinghy and back, also stows away in here

Other items that will store on top of the aft cabin are; life raft, series drogue, fenders, dock lines, awning and a small locker on the port side by the hatch has a side access locker for tools and anything else that might be needed on the aft deck.

From the cockpit there will be three lockers in the front of this cabinet. One each for mizzen sheet, port jib sheet, starboard jib sheet and mizzen halyard.
Hoisting reefing and dousing the mizzen can all be done right at the helm.
There will also be a 5 inch dorade cowl vent just behind the aft cabin wood stove cap.

The aft cabin hatch will slide under a small sea-hood under one of the lockers

This pic shows where the outboard locker, dorade vent and wood stove stack will be.

From the cockpit, behind the helm are three compartments. The left one holds the coiled mizzen halyard when coiled. The Center compartment is for the mizzen sheet and the one on the right is for the port jib sheet. Note the winch position for mizzen sheet.

Note the positions of the stove smoke stack and the 5 inch dorade vent.

This compartment is for the starboard jib sheet. Note that the aft cabin companion way hatch, slides under the life raft locker

Using an inexpensive "door skin" I make a cutting
pattern to use once the laminate sheets are
epoxied to the top.

I start out by making a stick pattern that is made up of one inch wide strips of door skin. Using a Hot Glue Gun, I make a general layout and transfer this to the final full door skin material, The door skin is then trimmed to the exact cutting pattern to use when making final cuts in the finished top.

This pattern shoes the location of the hatches, life raft, dorade and smoke stack to the aft cabin wood stove.

Before the final top is installed, I primed all of the compartments while I still had access
 

One half of the first layer of marine ply is fitted while the full size pattern is in place on the starboard side.

Houston Barker applies a protective coat of epoxy to the under side of the top panels on the aft cabin.
All wood surfaces on the boat are treated with a mixture of West Epoxy thinned with 30% lacquer thinner. This lets the epoxy soak-in and penetrate deep into the wood to ward off rot.
 

First layer of 1/4 inch marine ply is laid down with epoxy and screws. This layer is anchored to all the cross members that will make up the varies hatches and access points.

First layer of ply.

Houston helps lay down the Xynol cloth that we will wet-out with epoxy before installing the second layer of 1/4 inch ply.

Installing the second layer of ply.

After the second layer of ply, we lay more Xynol and epoxy to make up the final finish on the top.
This is sanded as smooth as we can make.
Then we start cutting open the various hatches and access points. Note right above the port-light is the area opened up for the mizzen mast.
 

After sanding the last coat of epoxy, I laid the full size patterns back on the top.
Then penciled-in all the cut lines for hatches and access points.

This pic shows the locations of the life raft (inset about six inches into the top), the outboard motor and tank. The hatch cover for the outboard will be tall enough to completely enclose the motor.

In this photo the starboard hatch has been fitted and the new "skylight" hatch is in progress.

The outboard motor locker has two hatches. The motor stows in here along with the motor hoist, fuel can, dinghy anchor, life jackets, flushing tool, extra oil, etc. Everything for the outboard motor is concealed inside this locker. Both hatches have locks.

The two round cut-outs are for the aft cabin wood stove stack and the other is a dorade box that will have a stainless cowl vent for fresh air in the aft cabin.
 

Routing the Monitor windvane lines posed a real problem. I finally decided to bring the wheel control lines thru the taff rail and along side the cabin at deck level. (right)

Lines along the deck.

The lines enter the starboard combing to a pair of turning locks. They then exit inside the cockpit directly to the wheel hub.