re design cuddy area

[frozenpod]

Good carpet is very good but not cheap. True marine carpet is very tight so it is rare to get hooks stuck in it and the fibers are plastic so that it does not absorb water, blood ect so no smell.

Just hose it down.

Re kill tanks each to there own but I rather use an esky. We use our kill tank to store jerrys with extra fuel and wish the boat was built with a bigger fuel tank and no kill tank.

[blacklab99]

yeah, funny how there's always something you want to change on your boat !
I too had a decent size esky, but being a smaller boat than yours and having a huge live bait tank, space was always at a premium.
The live bait tank pod seat will save me some room and i've only managed to add the kill tank because we can move the bulk heads. The bilge area at the back is way over size, when I removed the live bait tank, it almost felt you were going to slip in when cutting up bait ! LOL
The most important thing was to get a decent size tank under floor first, then a kill tank if I could squeeze it in, I should get a 150-160 litre tank under floor, which should cover me ok, I always take spare fuel when going wide, so the kill tank will probably be used then for spare fuel.
I worked on the scenario that 150 - 160 litres would be ok if tackling Portland or Bermi or the likes, with an extra 20-30 litres stored that's giving me a fairly decent range ( with the new four stroke ) .
The flooring choice, Yep, looks like marine carpet, good quality ! It was a good exercise looking at what's out there or what other people have done. And to be honest, I think the carpet that was actually in my boat, was original ! If so, that's a pretty good advert for a quality marine carpet, nae on 25 odd years old.............

[frozenpod]

160lt should be plenty without the need for jerrys.

I must admit I don't quite picture the live bait tank pod seat, do you have an example.

I do like the somewhat common design of the live bait tank directly in front of the well. You can still fish down the back to get around the motor and the weight is centralised.

At least with ours you noticed the shift in weight when it is full of water.

[blacklab99]

Hi F.P, the live bait tank seat pod, is basically a pod seat, but a double, so the front box part you put your seat arrangement on, then the lower back box part is also a seat but the seat lifts up with a self contained live bait tank or cooler insulated bin in it. You vent straight out the side thru the hull with a non return pipe. the front box part, also has a compartment space under it, which can be used for anything, either tackle box, batteries etc. I cant put a picture up sorry. Most of the ones I've ever seen are just to damn big, and are up to 900 long, he has designed a slim line double one, which is perfect from me as I don't loose to much fishing space. My old set up was a 90 litre, fibre glass live bait tank, it was bolted to the floor at the back, it looked home made but was done well, but damn near weighed 20 odd kilo empty ! you can imagine how the arse went down full of water, plus I've also removed a stainless masher off the transom, that was about the 10-15 kilo mark as well, I'll probably get a fibre glass one as a replacement. Having the live bait tank on the back is handy, but when two blokes are bait catching off the back, with a low transom, 90 litres of water, a few swells, it didn't work ! especially when one of my fishing mates is around 140 kilo's and that's being nice !
when I removed it, that's when I noticed cutting up bait, that the bilge area was huge, standing at the bait board its was easy to step in to close and half your foot would be over the edge, so moving the back bulk head back 2-300 mm means its behind the transom level, if you follow, and footing
is way better. I always had the fear in swells grabbing a rod off the back and slipping into the damn thing, cant figure out why they had such a huge
bilge area under there, it still, after moving the back bulk head back is a decent size. I'll obviously put the photo up of the seat pod, installed once I get the boat back, I'm getting him to install it when he finishes everything off, which means he can cut the hole in the side of the boat, I wasn't keen. LOL
cheers
colin

[blacklab99]

O.K, ripped my old live bait tank and s/s burley muncher out of my boat, before she went to the doctors
will be using a p.v.c. muncher if I re fit one and my live bait tank will be in my pod seat.
So have no need for these items !
anyone with interest, just p.m me

C

[bowl]

Loving the updates !

[barra mick]

Nice uodated

[blacklab99]

Loving the updates !

:thumbsup:

bowl, With the boat away, I'm running out of things " marine " to tinker with !!!


C

[blacklab99]

Well, Its been a while since I've updated my project, dropped the boat with the floor cut out to the fibre glasser on march 1st.
This is where things get interesting.
After numerous phone calls, and probably my trusting nature, I've just arrived back from the marina where my boat sits. Was suppose to be stored in his workshop and nearly finished, it needed surgery up front where the eye lit was damaged and allowed all the water over the years to get in and cause all the damage, new cuddy seats, new stringers, new floor, transome removed and replaced, extending to take a 25 inch leg motor, bulk heads repositioned to allow for 150 litres of fuel and reducing the back bilge area to accommodate a kill take down the back.
I'm a pretty relaxed bloke and understand life can sometimes throw curve balls, but one excuse after another started to get me concerned, I mean the lastest one when I rang up and he finally answered his phone was a cancer diagnosis in his family ( that's the worst one yet and I didn't want to queerie something like that with him). But, with assurances that it will only be another 2 weeks or so, sort of assured me that all was o.k.
I did tell him that if it took till June, I wouldn't care, I just wanted a good job done.
I turned up there today where he said two of his blokes were working on it all weekend while he was counciling other family members with his fathers cancer diagnosis, as he said he'd been off for a week up north to deal with it with his family,,,, To find my boat, exactly where I parked it, near 6 months ago !. I jumped the fence as no one was their at all, and nearly cried as it was uncovered, knee deep in water inside as the drain holes were blocked up, all my switches are basically Fu@@ed, including anchor winch switch, mould every where, it honestly broke my heart !!
The other business owners saw me jump the fence and came looking, basically, he's been taking deposit money ( 3k off me) and doing nothing, they said that there getting 1 or 2 a week coming and saying the same thing as me, they want him gone ! the other fibre glasser said he's getting a bad name from his doings. So, he was nowhere to be found and in all honesty, I went walking with base ball bat in hand for a half hour around the marina to try and find him ! he would have been found floating in the marina if I'd of found him !.
So, after 20 minutes talking to the other service providers there, I had a good talk to the marina owners in there office and I'm expecting a call from them tonight on the next move. I've given them 2 options, they open up the gates and let me take my boat or I'll forcibly remove the factory door to get access. This has been guttering !
It looks like its going to be a police/marina owners/and me, gaining access and removing my property !
Don't know if more damage has occurred to my boat, but it doesn't look good at all.
NOTE I HAVE GONE OVER THE THREAD TO SEE IF I MENTIONED EITHER HIS OR THE MARINA NAME, OF WHICH I DONT WANT TO MENTION, DUE TO OBVIOUS LIABILTY OVER NAMING HIM. TO THE MODERATORS,,,, PLEASE DELETE ANY SUCH NAME IF I HAVE MISSED IT.
I also feel sorry for the other retailers there, including the other fibre glass shop, for there name being tarnished by this clowns actions.
But from what we spoke about, they are now trying to get him closed down, as to save there reputation.
Once I do get my boat back and action is taken, I'll name him. For those about to embark on getting fibre glass work done and are concerned about whether they are sending there boat to this clown, message me with their fibre glassers name and I'll let you know whether to hold off.
The bloke seems to have been living off deposit money for the past 18 months or so. mongrel !!
Sorry for the long post, but I had to vent and I don't want anyone else to be burnt by this cowboy......
colin

[Marty.A]

Mate that would break my heart, in a situation like that my temper would get the better of me and I know I would have done something I would regret so well done for keeping a relatively cool head that couldn't have been easy. Hope it all works out for you mate and you catch up with the scum bag.