Finishing Details in Sportfisherman Cockpit

Kevin Agee has has been working on bringing the surface finishes in the cockpit up to a high standard and is nearly ready for the prime coats that will receive the final finish coat. Lots of fairing and sanding involved, worth the effort in achieving a quality boat. The flush deck hatches have been completed, aside from routing as needed for the flush hinges and catches, then painting and fitting the compressible seals that will make them watertight.

Meanwhile I was busy at the aft end of the cockpit, cutting the scuppers to drain water from the cockpit. These openings fit very neatly between the top of the deck in the cockpit and the underside of the wings each side of the outboard motor bracket, at the outer corners of the transom. With that work completed, I have started on the base structure that will support the insulated fish box that will span most of the width of the cockpit against the transom.

Completed covers for the flush hatches in the cockpit sole. Those aren't handles in the middle of each cover, they are stiffeners to reduce flexing underfoot.

Final layer of high build epoxy on the hull, waiting to be sanded.

The orange colour is a guide coat of food colouring in solvent, applied by cloth. Sanding off this very thin coat high-lights any dents or holes that need filling because they remain orange in an otherwise white surface. The flush cockpit hatch covers are in position but not installed, to reduce our chances of falling into the openings.

Inside view of the start of the cockpit scuppers, cut with a 76mm (3") diameter holesaw.

Same stage, viewed from outside. The trim-tab actuator will fit between the scupper and the side of the outboard motor bracket.

Completed scupper, from inside.

Same stage, from outside. The scuppers fit in neatly below the wings of the outboard motor bracket and will be almost invisible from outside.

Roughing-in the base under the insulated fish box. The fish box will span the unpainted width of the transom, flanked by lockers with hinged doors for access to the valves below. The outer ends are open for water flow to the scuppers, which will be hidden in the toe-kick recess below the fish box.

By next weekend Kevin will have completed the sanding. I will finish roughing-in the fish box, then we will move on to the foredeck and sidedeck construction.

This boat won't go onto our website until this prototype is near to completion. Until then, see our other designs on our desktop website or our mobile website.