Fender Locker

I had a lot of elaborate ideas of how to do hatches in the cockpit for storing fenders and sheets.  In the end, this boat is never going to make it unless I simplify a few things.  That's a hard pill to swallow, but going on four years of weekend work, I opted to re-use the BSI hatch mold.  The concept is to build a lightweight composite lid, rather than using the heavy acrylic.  As cockpit floor will be coved in Raptor Deck, the dogs will sit recessed in the foam for a nice clean fit and finish.

As part of this process, I spent two agonizing days stripping the gelcoat off the cockpit floor.  I have managed to strip and grind off all the entire deck at this point. (Ok, I lied.  There's just a tiny bit of the original gelcoat left on the tow rail bumps on the foredeck).  I am never doing that again!  If you see a boat with peeling gelcoat, walk away.