Customer brought me an 1860 SeaArk side console. Solid boat, reliable Suzuki outboard - customer had owned since new. However, the low bow deck and no storage wasn't conducive to bass fishing, so instead of purchasing a new boat, we wanted to just do a few upgrades to improve the layout.
Boat originally had a forward fuel tank, in the deck extension. Customer removed that and moved it aft prior to bringing me the boat. To facilitate that, his plan is to move the trolling motor batteries into the bow deck, as they are much more compact.
We needed to squeeze in a rod locker, battery hatch, and as many other storage hatches as possible.
Fitting the rod locker in required cutting into the bow cap. The little extension liner pretty well hugs the inside of the hull up there - no room was wasted, but we managed to squeeze out just enough space for an ample rod locker length.
Start adding bulkheads.
And more.
And some additional structure....
And some decking.
Then you have this.
Now, you just need some lids, and it's ready for the customer to finish.
Once the customer installs his own carpeting and latches, it looks about like this...
The rod locker is on the left, and the aft center box is for batteries. The remainder are just storage.
As you can see in this photo, the forward portion of the rod locker is pretty shallow, while the after portion is much deeper. There is a bar running across near the back of the rod locker, to support rod butts, with the reels hanging over the deep area. The rods will then rest on the shallow portion at the bow. The customer was planning on adding some bungee material to securely hold the rod butts in place.
Boat originally had a forward fuel tank, in the deck extension. Customer removed that and moved it aft prior to bringing me the boat. To facilitate that, his plan is to move the trolling motor batteries into the bow deck, as they are much more compact.
We needed to squeeze in a rod locker, battery hatch, and as many other storage hatches as possible.
Fitting the rod locker in required cutting into the bow cap. The little extension liner pretty well hugs the inside of the hull up there - no room was wasted, but we managed to squeeze out just enough space for an ample rod locker length.
Start adding bulkheads.
And more.
And some additional structure....
And some decking.
Then you have this.
Now, you just need some lids, and it's ready for the customer to finish.
Once the customer installs his own carpeting and latches, it looks about like this...
The rod locker is on the left, and the aft center box is for batteries. The remainder are just storage.
As you can see in this photo, the forward portion of the rod locker is pretty shallow, while the after portion is much deeper. There is a bar running across near the back of the rod locker, to support rod butts, with the reels hanging over the deep area. The rods will then rest on the shallow portion at the bow. The customer was planning on adding some bungee material to securely hold the rod butts in place.
