Building the Squirt

Rigging Now it is time to start rigging the boat with the motor, cables, gauges, etc. Before installing the dash I needed to figure out exactly where to place the controls for the motor so that it's in a comfortable position and doesn't impede with the dash position. I wanted the control unit to be hidden in the inside of the coaming. The flush mount control for my motor was quite a bit bigger than my coaming so I needed to add a board to the coaming to make it work. Something that is aesthetically pleasing. I took a scrap piece of mahogany and by hand drew a curve to follow the motor controls. Bellow you can see that piece. After cutting the piece to shape the next problem was that the piece for the control was a straight board and the coaming is curved. You can see the control mount does not sit flush and I want it to be one smooth solid piece.  I used a wood chisel and sander to chip out the center of the board and curve it to match the coaming. Took quite a...

Decking Structure Flipped the boat off the stand! Finally! First thing I did was encapsulate the inside of the boat with 3 coats of epoxy. Then I installed the bow eye with an extra long drill bit and very carefully drilling through the center of the stem. Now it's ready to tow. Of course I had to test out the trailer so I decided to take it out to the lake with my fiancé and test out the hull. Wanted to see how the waterline would look on the water. Turns out you really can't know your water line on this boat until you've got it all rigged up with your motor. In this picture the hull glides on top of the water. Later once I had my heavy 20 hp 4 stroke the rear of the boat sank way passed the water line I had painted. However, in the water no one will really pay attention. Out of the water on the trailer the line looks superb. You'll see in my posts later on. I didn't go with a boot stripe because using this 2 part marine paint was already a challenge and I ...