I was following your build, and it looks great. good job!
if someone is considering a similar conversion, I found this DIY central console, which seems like an easy and light build.
thanks. i'm getting a bit frustrated with the speed of my progress but we still have at least a couple of months until the boating season here so I should make it
yes, it's just 2x U-shaped brackets with bolt and wing nut to rotate the light out of the way inside the hull when it's not needed. we used a dinghy a fair amount of time at night, so I wanted something better than a handheld flashlight; plus, there is plenty of 12v power available.
I've got a new(ish) 15hp 4-stroke Evinrude (Tohatsu) for it because it already has a tube for remote steering and an electric start. As I understand, it's possible to convert those to 20HP by changing the carburetor. My "upgrade" made the boat much more rigid and it will not have any trouble...
Hatches are done, decks are done, hatches reinforcement is done, and electrical is done, spaces between hatches are painted.
I am getting ready for EVA foam.
I "un-bented" two old seats and got enough material for the front deck and hatches. It was a bit challenging to flatten...
I calculated the boyancy of foam I have inside the boat now and it's ~511 pounds for 1.5x of 4x8' sheets of 2" rigid foam.
* From another thread I found:
4x8' sheets of 2" foam is 5.33 cubic feet.
Seawater weighs ~64 pounds per cubic foot.
So sheet displaces ~5.33x64= 341 pounds
Current total...
Hi guys,
I hope you had a great Christmas, and Happy New Year to you and yours!
Some progress on this build:
I tried aluminum blazing for the first time to buld hatch frames. Worked pretty well. almost like TIG welding with a strong bond.
so far, it's 318 LB.
213LB added to...
I just weighed the boat again with both seats and an empty gas tank: 235LB (empty hull without even bench seats was 105LB)
so I added 130LB - not even 1 normal person's worth.
It's missing the battery, a few wires for navigation lights, hatch lids, a couple of small walls, paint and eva foam...
I did. 2 huge boxes more than 170L/45 Gal in total. Both with a drain to use as an ice box or close off and make an aquarium. I wonder if keeping fish in those boxes counts as a flotation volume because fish do not sink.
Some more progress today.
Seats with new seat bases and rigid foam for flotation and support were installed back. This is the same type as the pink foam from home depot.
I loosely glued 2" pieces together with construction glue compatible with the foam, cut drain channels and sealed with the...
Not at all but it does not have to because it's just "the skin" and all the weight is supported by the beams and foam under it. The trick is to level the foam properly which took some time but the floor weight next to nothing compare to 3/4 plywood i'd have to use without foam support under it.
If I stay with the "need" things, I would just keep the tin as is and put a plastic box in it to store things. But where's the fun in that? 😀
My wife asked me how much I spent on this little boat so far. I told her: "remember the 30-year honeymoon in Europe you dreamed about? Well, now we can...