Project Year 2 - 1999
The following winter I thought up more ways to spend money. I was unhappy with the original bench seats and wanted a footrest in the driver’s position. The treatment of the interior deck, just paint over plywood and fiberglass, was a little too utilitarian for my taste and I wanted to replace to broken steering wheel and speedometer.
I designed a combination storage shelf and footrest for under the fore deck and built it from plywood over the winter. The shelf has two hatch doors allow storage of an anchor and ropes below, life jackets and gear above. The next spring I installed the shelf by attaching wood blocks to the inside of the hull with fiberglass cloth and resin. The shelf is screwed into these blocks using stainless screws. The footrest supports the rear of the shelf and is attached to the plywood deck.
The first time out in the season of ’99 I foolishly braced myself on the windshield while crossing a large wake. I was rewarded with a crack in the windshield from top to bottom. I purchased what I thought to be an exact replacement from Taylor Made and even drove the three hours each way to Gloversville, NY to pick it up rather than wait for it to ship by motor freight. As it turned out the Taylor replacement was quite a bit smaller than the original. Despite the size difference I was able to make it fit and it looks good. I did save the original just in case I want to attempt a faithful restoration in the future.
To solve the floor treatment problem and add an illusion of thickness to the hull walls I installed marine carpet from bow to stern, gunwale to gunwale. I chose a dark blue to compliment the aqua marine color of the topside. Next I purchased folding marine bucket seats to replace the front bench. The problem I now faced was how to install them. I wanted to sit higher than the original bench seat and I also wanted to be able to rotate the seats to rear facing and also shift the driver’s seat toward center. This boat is so small that when I am in her alone I must sit in the center or my body weight causes her to list severely. I solved the dilemma with a unique mounting system for the buckets that mounts into the original bench pedestal. My design holds each bucket to the pedestal with 10” hex bolts pinning the base of each seat to the pedestal. When the pins are removed, the seat with its square base can be rotated to any of four positions and the pins replaced to secure it. The driver’s seat can also be shifted toward center and pinned there facing forward for outings alone. When the driver’s seat is in the normal position a carpeted cover fits between the buckets creating a step or a place for a small child to sit. I decided to keep the rear bench seat and with the help of my talented wife we replaced the foam and the vinyl covering to match the new front buckets and polished the aluminum brackets that hold it to a like new luster.
When I went to install the new steering wheel I discovered the old one was ceased onto the shaft. I decided that purchasing a puller would probably be a waste of money and effort since the wheel would probably break before it pulled off. The new wheel went back to the store and I painted the old wheel and added a sport cover to cover the cracks. I fashioned a cap to replace the missing center cover and painted it to match. The old wheel still has noticeable cracks, but it looks acceptable.
Additional improvements in ‘99 were to replace all of the lamp and accessory wiring and to install an accessory outlet in the dash with enough current available to power a spotlight. A non-working surface mounted speedometer was replaced with a modern in-dash model. I wanted to add a sound system but did not want to cut any more holes in the dash. The solution was to place a pair of surface mount speakers and an automotive booster amplifier under the fore deck out of sight. To this I connect a portable radio or CD player through a control hanging from the dash. It sounds great and can’t be seen.
To aid in planing I added a Doel Fin to the motor which works very well. She will plane at about 12 Mph. with two persons on board. I also added an automatic bilge pump so I could leave her at the dock overnight and not loose sleep worrying that she might sink.
We kept her in the water until after Halloween that year. We really enjoyed watching the New England fall foliage from the water during many fall weekend outings.
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