Tim came over the day after Thanksgiving and we had the interior built by the following day. I think we only had to run to Menards five or six times to buy additional supplies.
The process worked well, Tim did all the work; while I supervised. Actually, Tim did do a majority of the work both cutting the wood and building the interior. However, I wouldn’t say I supervised; I just tried to stay out of the way. I was of some use I guess, cutting smaller pieces of wood and doing a lot of the gluing. I would cut the wood and hand it to him. That way Tim could stay in the boat and piece together the new interior without having to come out and cut every piece of wood. Then when it was time to glue the whole mess together we would trade places; I would be in the boat and Tim would drink a beer waiting for me to finish my task; although he did a far share of the gluing as well.
Tim, being a professional builder and owner of his own contracting company, doesn’t waste time when working. Were as, I would stop and think about what the next step is prior to committing to it; experience being the key difference in the approach. Tim knows how to build stuff, and sets about it with a single minded determination. What took him with my assistance two days to build would have probably taken me a week, and probably wouldn’t have been as structurally sound.
There is still some work to be done on the interior at this point, but after our whorl wind construction weekend, the boat had a new interior. This consisting of a larger forward berth, a longer and more useable rear berth and a nice shelf. The forward berth has three access hatches in it, which I will use for storage. The rear berth has one access hatch. We only put one rear bunk in and left the other side open. This will facilitate storage, the space between the deck and the bulkhead being tall enough to fit storage bins in. I can always add a bunk if I want to. Also, the side that was left open is more compact then the other and building a new bunk would have been much more difficult. So, storage it is. At this point the boat will be able to sleep three adults with relative comfort, and I even made sure there was a spot for a potable toilet.
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| The new interior prior to painting |
Now, as I’ve said, I used a frame to support the decking, which left open space against the hull to prevent water build up. Not that I expect to have the boat inundated with water, heaven forbid. With the access hatches in the berths I will be able to store whatever may fit in the limited space. The decking is only nine inches above the hull at the center line, so whatever gets stored there will have to be pretty compact; say like, cans of beer.
Anyway, the other remaining areas under the decking will be used in the same manor as the original interior. I.E. flotation, or I believe the proper term is ‘boiency’. My plan is to buy inner tubes and shove them into the vacant space under the decking. We’re not talking truck tubes here. No, these will be small inner tubes like for bicycles and wheelbarrows. I have already purchased two 14 inch tubes which appear to be suited for positioning under the cockpit. Basically, every available space in the boat will have an inner tube stuffed in it, with the expectation that if something catastrophic occurs the boat will still remain a float. However, they said the Titanic wouldn’t sink either.
Why inner tubes? Because, I don’t like foam! Besides, if I ever decide to go with the Jungle Love theme, it will make redoing the boat that much easier. Also, I read somewhere that water is 784 times denser than air (at sea level), so having trapped air is good for floatation. As long as it’s not foam. However, I guess I’ll have to keep a tire pump on board to insure proper inflation. Better add that to my list. Next.
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