Some updated pics!
Glued down the sole, I'm going to fiberglass it. This little boat is gonna see some miles so....
Dry fitting some goodies. Going to overdrill and fill with epoxy now. then drill a tiny center hole so after priming and painting i'll have a small little center point to follow for the final holes.
I'll need to cut about an 1" off the bow hardware, the threads just barely hit the top.
I wound up using two pieces of ply for the little front deck, and putting some little cleats in there so it would sit perfectly flush with the rubrail. Gonna put a little hatch up front, so I decided to double up on the ply because my dog knows no bounds, and I'm sure she'll be sitting on the little area in no time.
micro console! I built micro console for a couple of reasons. first and foremost, I had a decent amount of wood left over from my 6 sheets of okume, and I sure as hell wasn't going to waste it.
Micro boat will be used at night as much as it will be used during the day. 90% of my striped bass fishing is at night. I needed a spot for a chart plotter / fish finder / switch panel for lights. I didn't want to rely on battery powered running lights, so mini boat with have front and rear nav lights. A little grab rail is going up top above the finder.
Im also debating where to put the front nav lights. My first though was going to put them in the front of the console, (you can see the epoxy circle where i over drilled and filled). the angle in the front of the console is about 31 degrees from the centerline of the boat, so the lights would be at the proper angle to view em from the front. My other option would be to put them up front either under the rubrail, or cut them flush into the rubrail. Thoughts? I really want to just put them into the CC.
Also put a little drain on the side for the built in cooler.
grab rail up top, fish finder, switch panel, two cup holders, and a little recessed spot behind them to put your phone etc etc.
Battery, fuses, main on /off, etc all will go in the console. its really just some LED lights and the fish finder.
the font seat/ cooler/ small storage. This was my messiest epoxy job i did late at night and tired.
now i know never do epoxy work when you are tired after working for 12 hrs.... I'll pour two part foam around the outside, and fiberglass the seams inside and finish it off. the cooler can fit a bottle of my wife's favorite wine..
The cleats. Im going to cut the console AGAIN and make sure these cleats sit flush with the console.
I keep telling myself SOONER then LATER I'll be sitting on my micro boat staring out at the water, looking over this, enjoying my hard work