I have been wrapping up a lot of odds and ends, and things are starting to feel like they are moving again a bit. The under deck stuff seems like it takes forever and a day, but I feel fairly good about what came together.
I hemmed and hawed about installing my tank for a long bit, it's gigantic and I just kept envisioning 180 gallons of fuel on the loose. In the end I went with the zinc chromate and primer, which seems to be pretty solid, as I have moved the tank around on things quite a bit after it was primed and none of the primer chipped off on contact points, just some minor scuffs. I put both some longitudinal supports under the bends on the bottom of the tank as well as 5 vertical supports on each side (including the end blocks) so hopefully that's sufficient to keep stress from breaking the tank from repeated flexing and warping. I ended up using 4200 to install it because I had the angle welded in to keep the tank from moving fore and aft, so the adhesive was largely a formality aside from providing a solid platform for the tank to rest on. If I ever have to replace this tank I am hoping that I am thankful for that decision.
I went the pool noodle route as well, it cost me about $130 for all the noodles to fill under the ph deck between the dollar store ones and target. Target's noodles were a better deal at $2 from the dimensions they gave online but when I showed up to buy them the $2 ones were 2 different sizes, so who knows and whatever. I think for the under cockpit part of my boat I am going to shoot for more watertight accessible storage with drain plugs, as it's more utility and probably more buoyant than pool noodles, just takes more planning and more work.
Got the pilothouse decking installed, the windshield cut and fit. I am probably going to try to fab and install the pilothouse aft bulkhead with the windshield and roof supports all at the same time so I can try to minimize heat warping.
I also got a killer super quiet pneumatic sander (aircat 6700) and a 50' hose for my shop vac so I can put the noisy part of my sander in my garage and not annoy the neighbors. I might need a bigger compressor going forward but this sander is night and day better about how low profile and light it is compared to my motorized one, which is bulky and can't fit really anywhere but is pretty good for flat or open spaces.