I’ll spare you the suspense: the hatch installation went better than I feared.
First, I was very careful to align the hinges so the hatches would open without binding.
Using a single “piano” hinge instead of separate cabinet hinges would’ve made this much easier, but that’s not how I roll.
The next challenge was getting the wooden lids straight on the hinges. I finally held the open hatch in place with one hand while drilling a pilot hole into the wood through the far hinge.
After tacking that hinge on with one screw, I could now check alignment and make required adjustments before doing the same with the near hinge. If all went well, I’d then install and tighten the rest of the screws.
I did learn to drill the pilot holes completely through the plywood; otherwise they tended to crack. I filled the holes (and cracks) with wood putty.
Although none of the hatches went on completely straight (as usual), they all worked.
The next step was installing latches.
(note: this is an Amazon affiliate link, which means that if you click the link and buy the associated product, Amazon may pay me a fee–your cost is unaffected)
After carefully examining all the parts, I saw–to my relief–that the metal latch tabs just needed to be centered and flush with the top of the thwarts. Easy enough. Drilling holes and bolting them into place was straightforward.
Locating the latches in the seats would be trickier: they had to be close enough to catch the tab, yet far enough to open cleanly when the handle was raised.
And since none of my hinges were straight, each latch had to be individually fitted.
After repeated measurements and very careful arithmetic, I finally nerved myself to drill cutouts for the latches with a 2″ hole saw.
Two of the three hatches worked perfectly on the first try; the center hatch, however, needed extra washers behind the tab to make it catch. Once they all worked, I loosened the bolts and adjusted each latching tab until it caught solidly, without rattling.
I decided to install restraining cables to keep the hatches from ripping themselves off the hinges when flung open.
The next step was fitting EVA foam seat covers: I measured the plywood again to make sure I had all the dimensions right, then traced them onto the back of my foam and labeled each piece.
Having learned with the other boat that dull blades leave jagged edges in this stuff, I was careful to replace the blade in my box cutter after every few cuts.
I took the latches back out then laid the foam onto the seats. As before, I used spray adhesive to augment the foam’s adhesive backing.
I had to trim the end pieces on the forward thwart to follow the shape of the hull. Unfortunately, in all the excitement–and despite the label on the back–I grabbed the center piece instead of the end piece I wanted and cut it by mistake. As a result, I had to cut a new center piece out of spare material, which would cause problems later.
After the foam was in place I cut out the latch holes with a sharp insulation knife and reinstalled them.
I’d originally planned to have the hinges on the leading edge of each hatch, so the wind wouldn’t rip them open if a latch failed (especially under tow, on the highway).
However, during test fitting I realized the aft hatch needed to open forward so I could access it from inside the boat.
I needed a backup to secure that forward-facing hatch. I was leaning toward some kind of strap when my brother had a great idea: why not use a cooler latch?
It holds the hatch closed, and once opened, stays out of the way until it’s needed again. Genius!
So despite all my fretting, the hatch scheme worked out well–and it didn’t look bad, either.
Bow platform
This boat came with a bunch of holes drilled in the bow platform for various trolling motor mounts: they didn’t hurt anything but made it look kind of ratty.
I decided to extend the original platform like I did on my MirroCraft, then cover it all with spare EVA foam. This would hide the holes while giving me a larger surface to work with up front.
I used a cardboard template to check the fit, then cut a 3/32″ aluminum sheet to size with a sabre saw.
I also riveted a strap of thin aluminum underneath to hold my last two blocks of flotation foam, hiding it all behind a scrap of EVA.
After cutting a rear brace out of angle aluminum with an angle grinder, I riveted everything into place.
Remember when I had to replace that front center piece of EVA foam? As a result I was now short of material: to cover the bow platform I had to either send away for another whole sheet, or live with a visible seam.
I tried to convince myself that if I carefully aligned the pieces the seam would barely show.
OK, it wasn’t glaringly obvious–but it bothered me to look at it.
I considered ripping it back up and ordering another sheet after all, but in the end decided a small piece of aluminum trim, painted to match the thwarts, would both protect the seam and hide it from prying eyes.
(we will never speak of this again).
Finally, I installed line cleats and a drink holder, then sealed all remaining bolts with 3M 5200.
Now it was time to paint the hull. I set my alarm for 04:30 so I could get the first coat on before it got too hot.