A War of Attrition - Side Deck and Stern Hatches

N

neil b

Member
Hey Guys,
After a week of working on the boat, during some very hot and humid weather, we finally made some progress. Here are a few pictures of the side decks going on and the stern hatches.

- Neil

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Bottom side of the hatch spacer and landing.

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Topside view of hatch landing.

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That's what they should look like.

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Hatch cover sitting in the landing. These covers were bent in a hand press to mirror the camber curve of the stern deck.
 
More pictures - bow deck, bow cleat, and leaning post sockets.
- Neil

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This is the main (middle) bow sheet that makes up the bow deck. You can see the two plug weld holes, the cut-out that drops over the bow cleat, and the two cut-outs for the leaning post sockets. The tread plate makes everything a little bit harder as the tread bead needs to be ground back so fittings seat flush to the sheet.

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Bow end of the same sheet.

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Bow cleat. The cleats are made out of 1" rod and are welded to a backing plate on both sides. The bow cleat was then welded to a landing made out of angle.

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Port side fuel fills.

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The legs of the leaning post (for fishing from the bow deck ) drop through these two water fill fittings and land on a pair of stainless bolts mounted through a pair of angle brackets. A pair of pvc fittings screw into the water fills to quiet the leaning post legs and take up any slop between the leaning post legs and the inside walls of the water fills. The idea is that when you remove the leaning post, all you have left is two low profile water fills.

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View of cockpit floor and decking.
 
Flying duckboat... trying to flip the boat with the crane to weld on the underside of the topside decks. This didn't end up working so well (even though we've flipped the boat before). The slings were slipping on the hull and we were having trouble creating enough drag on the bottom edge of the hull to flip it over. It was pretty tight between another boat and the crane truck, so I ended up welding overhead, lying on the cockpit floor, to finish the side decks.

- Neil

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Gave up swinging it around, so we dropped it on some scrap wood.

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View from up on the crane truck.

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Back on the trailer.
 
Beautiful boat Neil! Excellent design and craftsmanship - throughout! Thanks for documenting the build…wonderful project! Did you weigh it when it was hanging? I’m curious what it weighs.

Hitch
 
Thanks for the update. I was just thinking about your project the other day and wondering if I missed the finished project.
Terrific workmanship.
 
Neil ,

There are no words that describe what you guys have accomplished there !! That is one awesome looking boat and the workmanship is nothing but top notch !! Cannot wait to see it under power soon ??



Dave M
 
Now that's a new art form! Very nice. Like everyone else, can't wait to see it on the water.

Take care,

Ed L.
 
Thank you for the comments. Its been a pretty long road getting to this point. Making the finished hull look nice has been time consuming and grinding aluminum in hot weather has not been much fun. But lucky dad and I are almost done with the fabrication and grinding. The coaming needs to be fabricated, the console welded on, the cleats welded, and a few brackets for attaching a rocket launcher/cutting board/long line spool pole. The thinking is to make one pair of brackets that can be used for all purposes. I probably have a day or two left of fabrication before its ready to be cleaned for paint. I'm trying to do all the welding I can think of in terms of extra brackets/mounting tabs and that kind of stuff before I paint. I really don't want to have to weld anything on after I paint the hull. I think my dog ramp will key over the midship and stern cleats, so that shouldn't require any separate brackets or tabs.

Hitch,
I weighed the hull without any cockpit floor, fuel tanks, or topside decking... and it was around 900 lbs. It's not a light boat by any means, but that was by my choosing. I could have made the boat out of 1/8" material instead of 1/4" bottom skins and 3/16" sides and decking, but I think it would have been so light it would have rattled your teeth out in any kind of sea. I'm hoping the weight of the hull with help it ride a bit better. We floated the boat with the cockpit floor in, about 600-700 lbs of lead, and my dad, to determine an approximate waterline before drilling the transom for the scupper drains. If I had to guess a total, finished weight I would estimate the boat at about 2000 lbs give or take a 100 lbs. The two fuel tanks can hold just over 50 gallons, so depending on how many gallons your holding you can add or drop a bit of weight. The fuel lines are set up to draw from each tank separately, so I will probably just fill the aft tank for an average outing. I can't imagine needing the range of both tanks, but at least its an option. We are putting on a fairly large pair of Lenco trim tabs (considering the size of the boat) so I should be able to trim out the hull easily once I figure out a typical cruising speed.

Finally we are closing in on completion!
- Neil
 
Neil
I too have enjoyed your build and amazed at your skill with the welds---and not a rivet in it?
wis boz
 
Very nice Neil, you should be proud. Here with the rest of the guys waiting to see it completed and floating. Congrats on getting it this far.

I like the forethought in putting in the plugs up on the bow deck. Nice touch.
 
What an undertaking. I think working with wood and glass is tough enough, certainly don't have the skill to even think of a project like yours. Hat's off!
 
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