The weather finally cleared yesterday after our 2 foot snowfall; and I had some time to work on the Squirt. It's still too cold outside to do any epoxy work, so I brought the pieces inside and assembled the cockpit floor in the basement. The plans had called for a 1/4" plywood floor; but I elected to use 3/4" white oak in that area for added strength. It also looks great. The added weight is negligible and I feel safer knowing some of my prospective passengers are over 200lbs. The bracing under the flooring is leftover mahogany. The braces double as stops between the two bottom frames. I wanted to be able to remove the flooring for access at a later time in case af a need to do some repairs. The picture shows the bottom side of the flooring with the braces, still clamped on one end while the epoxy cures. I left spaces between the planks for easy drainage into the bilge.
The second picture shows the flooring including outer pieces between the stringers and the chines. I wanted to place the floor as low as possible in order to have adequate height for the seat and still sit as low as possible in the cockpit. Once the floor is installed I will be setting the seat framing on top. I have also elected to make the seat removable for access to the engine compartment from the front.
Another issue I had to resolve was the placement of a fuel tank. The original design of the boat as an outboard had space for a portable tank in the stern, However, with the addition of the jet tunnel there was no adequate space there. I also needed to have space to route the steering and reverse gate cables through the transom and install bilge pumps on each side of the tunnel. The option of placing the fuel tank under the foredeck was poor as this positioning had left another builder with the bow riding too low when the tank was full. I found the resolution on the Glen-L builders' forum and had a tank built to specifications from RDS Manufacturing in Perry Florida (their pricing was the most reasonable) to mount in the engine compartment. I had chosen a starboard helm position so I ordered the tank to fit on the port side. The largest tank I could fit was 10 gallons. I had to make two minor modifications to fit the tank and have the most available fuel. I cut a notch in the carling near the aft end for height clearance and then drilled a 1" hole through the carling at the forward end of the tank to allow for the vent tube to pass through. The filler was installed on the inner side to allow for a secure hose fit and for clearance under the deck beam. The fitted fuel tank is shown below. Notice the placement of the filler pipe centered between the deck beams. It was important to plan the location carefully due to the very narrow deck area, only 6 inches.
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The second picture shows the flooring including outer pieces between the stringers and the chines. I wanted to place the floor as low as possible in order to have adequate height for the seat and still sit as low as possible in the cockpit. Once the floor is installed I will be setting the seat framing on top. I have also elected to make the seat removable for access to the engine compartment from the front.
Another issue I had to resolve was the placement of a fuel tank. The original design of the boat as an outboard had space for a portable tank in the stern, However, with the addition of the jet tunnel there was no adequate space there. I also needed to have space to route the steering and reverse gate cables through the transom and install bilge pumps on each side of the tunnel. The option of placing the fuel tank under the foredeck was poor as this positioning had left another builder with the bow riding too low when the tank was full. I found the resolution on the Glen-L builders' forum and had a tank built to specifications from RDS Manufacturing in Perry Florida (their pricing was the most reasonable) to mount in the engine compartment. I had chosen a starboard helm position so I ordered the tank to fit on the port side. The largest tank I could fit was 10 gallons. I had to make two minor modifications to fit the tank and have the most available fuel. I cut a notch in the carling near the aft end for height clearance and then drilled a 1" hole through the carling at the forward end of the tank to allow for the vent tube to pass through. The filler was installed on the inner side to allow for a secure hose fit and for clearance under the deck beam. The fitted fuel tank is shown below. Notice the placement of the filler pipe centered between the deck beams. It was important to plan the location carefully due to the very narrow deck area, only 6 inches.
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