The deck and tanks project continues. Two diesel fuel tanks were ordered from Ballard Sheet Metal Works, Inc. in Seattle who has been making tanks as long as anyone can remember. On their recommendation we ordered stainless steel tanks with all openings in the top. No drain sump, no sight glass. Just fuel gauge sender, filler pipe, vent and dip tube from the top for fuel outlet. I will lose the ability to balance the tanks by keeping both valves open. Due to low clearance between the top of the tanks and the deck, the fuel fillers were on the top of the aft side with an elbow up to the filler. The new tanks will be 1 shorter with a filler on top. This means that I can use a sounding stick instead of a sight glass as a backup to the fuel gauge. Also a long tube attached to a small pump can be used to suck out whatever is in the bottom of the tank below the pickup tube. They recommended not installing cleanouts but cutting them in when needed. Also the cleanouts were quite expensive. Ballard Sheetmetal said that many tanks returned to them have never had the cleanouts removed. I will save the cleanouts that I had installed in the old tanks last year in case they are needed again. The top layer of fiberglass on the decks was removed. A wooden block attached to a skillsaw was used as a gauge to cut through the top fiberglass skin of the deck about 2 away from the sides where the deck radiuses up to the bulwark or the house side. The top skin just peeled off. The condition of the balsa core varied from rotten to OK. Most had deteriorated to some degree so it was decided to remove it all. Water had migrated through whole sheets of balsa but the adjoining edge of the next sheet would be OK. The balsa was removed by chiseling it off of the bottom fiberglass skin. The balsa was also chiseled out from underneath the 2 edge of the deck. A gouge tool to remove the balsa core from the deck edge where the top skin remained. It was made from a metal bar bent roughly into an S shape with a sharp edge on one end. Removing the balsa was a tedious job we are glad to be done with. The bottom skin, while thin, has held its shape except in the cockpit where a large hole was cut to remove the tanks. There a plywood panel will be used underneath to support the deck while it is reconstructed. A PVC foam core will replace the balsa and a new fiberglass skin laid on top. Then a non-skid will painted on in a contrasting beige color. The color will continue several inches up the bulwark and house sides around the deck edge. Today the bottom skin and edges of the top skin are being ground down to attach new fiberglass. Lots of fiberglass dust. My choice was to leave or else suit up and help with the grinding. I chose to come home early. On the foredeck there is a large Sampson post instead of a mooring cleat. The post has no support whatever underneath the deck; it is just glassed onto to the deck. I was thinking about replacing it with a large Herreshoff cleat but have decided to keep it. The centerline of the deck from the stem to the house will be reinforced with solid fiberglass to give added stiffness for support of the Sampson post. A project like this requires some effort to avoid getting carried away and rebuilding more than necessary. There is always something more that would be nice to do. A teak plank will be laid down the centerline of the deck and a windlass bolted to it. This will be an improvement since Kathy K didnt have a windlass. I am looking at a Simpson-Lawrence Horizon 600 Freefall model, a horizontal windlass. Apparently any amount of money can be paid for a windlass. The S-L 600 is an economic but hopefully adequate model. As I understand it, the free fall model allows remote control of anchor free fall to the bottom instead of having to power down the anchor or manually releasing a clutch. The 600 model is recommended for a 30 boat and allows me to use my current anchor rode and 30 of chain. The next model up (900) is half again as much more but I would also have to replace the anchor rode and chain I just bought with 9/16 line and 5/16 chain. A windlass will allow me to move up to a 15 kg Bruce instead of the current 10 kg Bruce. I would appreciate any comments on windlasses; I have never used one before. Is the freefall feature useful?