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Below are some pictures of some modifications I have made & a brief description of why & how !
The first picture shows the inside of the transom where I have added four galvanized shackles to give me somewhere to tie ropes for mooring & for the motor safety line (blue rope) ! I have strung some shock cord between the bottom shackles to attach mooring lines to provide some give in the mooring line. The next shot shows my wingnut anti loosen device, this is just a piece of shock cord knotted into a loop & stretched over the wingnuts ! I have done this because others have said that they have had these loosen off during use, this is a simple solution to the problem. The orange box, is an old mini flare waterproof tub, that I use to keep the wingnuts & bolts in & is permanently clipped to the transom, so I don't forget them ! When in the boat, it is a great place to keep car keys, as it is totally water proof.
The third shot is of the outside of the transom & shows the piece of 18mm heavily varnished pine I have added between the motor plate & the bladder, this kicks the motor out & allows the use of the second hole on the motor mount & will allow me to attach my fishfinder transducer to the edge of the motor plate !
The 4th, 5th & 6th shots show the new pine oars I have for the boat, how they are stowed & the modified oar mounting point. This has a rivet in the bottom stopping the use of normal rowlocks. I removed both of them from the hull & drilled out the rivet & replaced it with a shorter one that does not protrude into the hole & then cut a away some of the foam (4th shot) under the oar mount once it was refitted to the hull. This will allow me to use normal rowlocks with anti-loss toggles !
This set of pictures shows the bow piece I have made to allow anchoring & to close off the funny hole at the bow. It is made of 12mm ply wood & at the front in the hole is three pieces glued & screwed together, the extra two layers only go back just beyond the cleat. The bottom is finished with a piece of 8mm neoprene foam, that seals the remainder of the hole at the bow. The idea is similar to that used by Harold from Holland on his boat, but my piece is not horizontal, it is level with the bottom of the gunnel tube. I have fitted it in the same fashion as the seats, using a piece of 1.5x15x15mm alloy from my local B&Q DIY store, you can see the four rivets per side in the first picture. The part is wedged in place & forces the side pieces into a vertical position, thus raising the bow slightly. The last three shots show the completed item, with alloy anti-chafe strip on the inner edge & the bow roller fitted. All fittings are stainless steel or alloy. The two rings are for hanging the anchor holder (read bucket) in the bow & I have mounted my fire extinguisher under the bow plate !
OK a few people have asked me for dimension information & construction details for this bow piece, so as long as you remember that this is the 10ft boat & thus the dimensions may be different for the 8/12/14ft boats ! A picture they say is worth a thousand words, so take a look at the ones above for the general layout & then at the ones below for dimensional data, use the fittings as a guide to what you are looking at ! The actual measured dimensions are listed below, due to the angles in the pictures, check the actual lengths, as they vary by up to half an inch from the tape measure in the pictures ! See the Plan at the bottom, the right section is what comes out of the off cuts from the main board, read on it will make sense honest :)
The maximum width is 19.25" (490mm), the overall length (front to rear) is 17.5"(445mm), the ply is 0.5" (12mm). The central stub that fits in the hole is 6" (152mm) wide, with the corners cut off it making the very front only 4" (101mm) wide. The maximum side length is 19" (483mm) from the max width corner to the very front at the 4" width mark.
To make this bow piece, get a piece of exterior or marine grade 0.5" plywood at least 20" (510mm) square. DO NOT use interior grade or very cheap ply, because it will get wet & it will disintegrate in no time at all wasting all your hard work ! Exterior grade ply uses waterproof glue & marine grade uses only the best glues & wood. OK back to work, mark a center line on your board & then measure everything from that line, not from the edges. My board only overhangs the bow by an inch, you can make it longer if you like. My board was 3" longer on the inside (see the 4th picture 2 rows up) but had a void below the top ply, thus I had to cut 3" off the length, but had already fitted the alloy brackets to the hull ! hence the bit on the hull that is longer than the board !
You will see in the 4th photo above, that the red lines point out the true measurements, thus the angled side of my board is 16.5" (420mm) long, then the board goes straight, i.e. parallel to the center line. You need at least 1.25" here to pass between the rounded ends on the hull side material. You will notice from the 5th photo, that the board is reinforced & made deeper by the addition of two extra pieces of board glued & screwed to the under side. The taper point towards the fire extinguisher serves no purpose, other than to save material. These two extra pieces are made from the outer parts cut off the square board to make the main board roughly triangular ! The main advantage of these reinforcing pieces, it to deepen the board where it goes through the bow, thus sealing most of the hole & I have added a piece of 8mm neoprene foam to the underside to fill the last of the hole. The other benefit, is that it gives some depth to allow the screws for the cleat & the bow roller to get a real grip. The plan below shows how these pieces are salvaged from the off cuts.
Last but not least, you will need to varnish the ply to make it really water proof. I have used yacht varnish, if you do the first coat with a 50/50 mix of varnish & thinners, the thinners will draw the varnish into the wood & seal the wood for the rest of the coats of raw varnish. Remember to sand down & clean the surface between coats to get a really good finish. You will notice on mine that the top is nice & shiny but the underside is a bit dull, this is only because there are 6 coats on the top side all carefully sanded & applied, where as the underside has had much less attention to detail & only 5 coats. The two ring bolts still have a long thread protruding below the board either end of the extinguisher, the plan is to rivet a hinge on the hull & connect it to these by folding it out over the thread & adding a wingnut to lock it in place. It is not really necessary, for now I just have a very thin stainless steel pin through the board & the alloy side brackets to stop the board falling in to the hull if it gets flexed to hard.
Oh nearly forgot, vital installation information, put the alloy side brackets on the board & locate the board in the bow hole as follows;- Put the board inside the boat below the gunnel, push it forward until the part that fills the hole is in place, now lift the rear of the board until it is level with the underside of the gunnel. Adjust the location of the alloy side brackets & draw around the bracket. Push down & pull back to remove it. Assuming the holes are already drilled in the side brackets, put them in place according to the markings you just made & drill through the hull. I prefer to drill one hole at a time, then rivet it in place this makes the alignment perfect. NOTE; If using POP rivets, make sure you use the metal bar that snaps off in the rivet gun to knock the head out of the rivet. The rod & head are mild steel & if left in place it will corrode the alloy rivet ! I normally fill the hole in the rivet with silicone sealant. You can copy my idea for securing the board in place, or use any method you prefer. The board will NOT pull out forward i.e. when anchored if you have made it correctly, but if it's a loose fit, it may fall back into the boat when motoring, so make sure it's a snug fit.
I hope that explains it in a way most people will be able to understand. If you have any comments or spot any errors, then please let me know.
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