Kind of hard to see what I did by this picture, but I painted over the Gluvit I applied. Not crazy about the paint I used... but it works. I tried to make the center bench into a storage locker, but I screwed up the aluminum. The piece I cut out got warped and when I riveted on the hinges.. the heads were too long and caused the hinge to bind up. So I gave up and went with a wood top. MUCH easier. Used some flimsy 1/4 inch ply and sanded and plastic coated it. I am happy with it for this season.
If you are wondering what the wood at the bow is, you are not alone! I fashioned this solution for my transom mount trolling motor to go on the bow. Last year when I tried to put it on the bow, the aluminum flexed like heck and the vise bracket on the motor would not clamp down. So I bolted this little set up and I am quite satisfied... at this point.
After a couple of outings, I realized that I needed a better trailer tie-down system. I had to pull over and redo the ratchet straps 3 times on my last outing and got eaten alive by black flies.
Part of the problem for my set up is that if I wrap the straps all the way around the boat and trailer, the boat flexes under the pressure, and I think it opens the riveted seams a little. Same thing if I hook the gunnels...
So here is what I came up with;
Other side;
You get the idea!
And the rear home made 3 point ratchet strap;
This system ratchets down PERFECTLY! Solid beyond my wildest expectations. That son of a gun is not going anywhere. I cut the cheap straps to measure and now it takes me less than 2 minutes to get it all strapped down.
Next thing I tackled was the floor. I purchased some puzzle mat from Zellers (Like Target and Wal-Mart) for about $25. This got me 8 tiles that were about 16x16 inches each. Had some brain farts and messed up one tile, but I am satisfied overall with how it turned out. Contact cement and scissors is all it took.
Closer...
And...
