Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign
Is there any weight/cost savings to using the existing fence as an undercarriage/frame for your new gunnel? Welding isn't one of my talents, and welding aluminum isn't supposed to be easy, but doing things the easy way isn't why iboaters rebuild & restore the classics. Or why the tinny & reevits boys do what they do either......
They just do it with less irritation, fewer rashes and with less itching & scratching. Of course I seem to remember aluminum exposure causes Alzheimer's. They quit making uncoated/treated aluminum cookware because of it or Parkinson's, I can remember. I'd prefer neither, thank you very much.
Tinners: Insert your favorite lung transplant joke here.....
Add CRS & MBS to my list of maladies, the wife is going to be thrilled!!??:facepalm: CRS: C (can't) R (remember) S (sh*t). MBS: you all know & have accepted as your fate. Plus 'solving the fence problem' was probably very cathartic & totally worth it to have oops spit coffee on his keyboard & monitor
. Anyway, at the very least, recycling the fence should at least buy a case of your favorite frosty adult beverage!
Sorry about the above, once I started it was hard to stop....
And now back to your program:
Between the back of the front lounge seating & the front of the bow is that a broad bow brow (??). Not sure of exact term but:
And probably done in a smooth elliptical curve rather then anything this angular.... Are soft curves the new angular or are hard angles the new curve???? Although an angular bow may help you evade enemy radar, allowing more stealthy approaches & departures....
Without details about the roof deck shown only as 'above' the main deck, I can only guess with the stairs going up, that it will be a 2nd level for the aircraft carrier (or a heli-pad?) for use as a deck rather then 'just' a roof to cover the main deck. Have you considered a fly-bridge captain's helm? Remote throttle & steering lead me to reference a comment someone else made about an I/O conversion w/ small 4cyl since you don't want or need a blown bb 454
Tim Allen will be very disappointed that you so casually dismissed
MORE POWER. With at least some space below deck & above the water, dropping the motor somewhat below the deck, means a lower engine cover, which gives you a flat surface to mount a removable grill, & frees up some deck space in your rendering for the keg-o-rater fridge between the grill & bar, that puts the swim platform/ladder where you have the grill located now. Easy closer access bar to grill, with prep/staging space for the grillmaster on the bar. And I thought that remote steering & throttle would be 'easier' to run via servo/hydrolics on an I/O, rather then an OB...
Lastly, with concerns about a forward weight bias, what about extending the upper deck further towards the stern, making it overall, a longer deck. That of course supposes that you have the upper decks rear edge above the helm seat, as shown by the dashed outline. The I/O might help shift the CG rearwards as well. Extending the upper deck & converting to an I/O doesn't improve your center of buoyancy though....:redface:
Just my $0.015 (I don't think my opinion is yet worth the whole 2 cents.......)
Looking forward to more updates as your plan comes together. Greatly enjoyed your Miss Morgan build. Thanks
EDIT: I couldn't get the videos to load until after I posted, re: CRS above.... I'll leave my post as typed, but it appears that you've answered a couple of my questions already. And an I/O won't really sit much lower, if at all....But it's all about throwing ideas around.....
