Thanks again Kismet! Now as for the questions, all good ones by the way, and stuff that I hope I've gotten right, lol. I am still planning on putting a storage locker on the port side that will accommodate oars, life jackets, maybe a rod or two and the other stuff that needs to be on board. Barring that, I think hangers on the side may be the way to go.
Now as for the center seat allowing rowing, it comes out by simply unscrewing the pedestal, it would be a bit uncomfortable but I think I could manage it from there, it is something I'll have to try out when I get her on the water the first time. Now for the center post, there is ample clearance, I managed to achieve about a 4 inch stand off. The aluminum channel rails used for the structure have 2x3's mounted in the channel that actually added about a 1/2 inch of clearance over what was already there. The thickness of the floor board is 19/32 so that added a bit more clearance as well so I think it will be fine. It was something I was worried about too, that seat post looked awful long when I installed it.
On the weight/balance issue, I am still a little concerned about it, but I think it is going to work out fine. I plan to install two deep cycle batteries inside the front seat cavity and at about 40 pounds each, and that far forward from the CG, it should provide a good offset to the motor, 6 gal fuel tank and me. I am also going to mount a small trolling motor on the bow that will add about 15 more pounds and since it is so far forward, it will have a greater effect on moving the CG back closer to center of the boat. I did some basic calculations and the CG should be about the 9 foot mark on the boat or about 2 ft aft of center. I hope reality and theory coincide! :LOL2:
On the flotation issue, again, I am somewhat concerned with this, the foam panels under the floor will help some but I don't think they are going to be quite enough even with figuring in the limited buoyancy of the wood used in the build. As such, I am going to try and add more where I can. There is still a bit of room under the front seat/battery box and inside the rear seat. The air chamber was already compromised before I installed the seats and mounts in the rear so that whole chamber is empty. I am going to see how much foam I can put in there to add more flotation. At present I think there is enough to provide minimal buoyancy but I'll be a lot more comfortable once I can add a bit more.
As for "bow art" - Mr. Natural would be funny but I think I'm leaning towards the "Shark mouth" like they painted on the old P40 Warhawk fighter aircraft in WWII. I think that would be rather humorous on such a little boat!
I do appreciate the comments, gives me stuff to think about. This is my first complex build and there was a lot of trial and error involved. These forums have been invaluable, especially getting the opportunity to look at a lot of other builds for ideas and solutions. I just hope that posting my build gives a little back to the community, plus I have to admit, I like showing it off a little bit since it was my first real build
