Mark42
Fleet Admiral
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2003
- Messages
- 9,334
Ok, so if you saw my post on Docside Chat, you know what I'm talking about. A very nice and lightly used 1985 16' Bayliner cuddy cabin. Thats right, only 16'.
So what is the project if the boat is so nice, you might ask. Ahhhh.....
The cabin has a low ceiling, and very limited visability out that hatch. Its not a nice place to be and take in the view while cruising. And the cockpit has two back to back lounge seats that take up all the space.
My idea is to do the following:
Raise the roof of the cabin about 12-18". Do that by removing the ceiling and installing aluminim framed windows. install new ceiling. Now there is headroom for adults to sit upright in the cuddy. The footwell space in the cuddy is tight. Just wide enough to fit a port-a-potti. About 20 inches. I want to widen this to about 30 inches and install the typical cuddy table that converts to bed setup. The table will be small, about 30" x 30". the floor won't be flat because of the curves of the hull, but at least you will have space to put your feet and be able to lean back against the hull as a backrest. Plus I get rid of that nice carpet on the ceiling (who's idea was it to put carpet in boats? i'd like to smack 'em....)
By raising the roof of the cabin, it also raises the windshield of the cockpit 18". That gives the needed headroom in the cockpit so a hard top can be installed. Say the width of the beam, and about 42" fore to aft. A snap in cover will enclose the entire cockpit when needed. Also a nice big front window in the cabin makes for easy access to dropping anchor.
With this simple change, two or three adults can sit in the cabin and have good visability, and the back-to-back lounge seats in the cockpit will be replaced with two buckets on posts or boxes (for storage). That leaves an open deck behind the captians chair of about 3 to 4 feet. I like adding the open space in the rear because this is one tiny cabin boat and people getting in and out and putting on PDF's and handling tow toys need some space. And by re-using the cuddy as regular sitting area, then there is still seating for 4 adults, and there will still be a small triangle area in the very front of the bow where the under 6 yr olds can snug up in the bow area for naps. As long as we are not under way (hee hee hee)
I'll post a picture after I get the boat in my yard and I can photograh and photoshop the pics so you have a better idea of what my tape measure tells me and what I see in my mind.
Also, all that darn carpet has got to go in favor of that vinyl looking stuff that Boomyal used in his boat. I found that carpet and sand and sea water don't mix or smell nice.
Thanks for reading!
Mark.
So what is the project if the boat is so nice, you might ask. Ahhhh.....
The cabin has a low ceiling, and very limited visability out that hatch. Its not a nice place to be and take in the view while cruising. And the cockpit has two back to back lounge seats that take up all the space.
My idea is to do the following:
Raise the roof of the cabin about 12-18". Do that by removing the ceiling and installing aluminim framed windows. install new ceiling. Now there is headroom for adults to sit upright in the cuddy. The footwell space in the cuddy is tight. Just wide enough to fit a port-a-potti. About 20 inches. I want to widen this to about 30 inches and install the typical cuddy table that converts to bed setup. The table will be small, about 30" x 30". the floor won't be flat because of the curves of the hull, but at least you will have space to put your feet and be able to lean back against the hull as a backrest. Plus I get rid of that nice carpet on the ceiling (who's idea was it to put carpet in boats? i'd like to smack 'em....)
By raising the roof of the cabin, it also raises the windshield of the cockpit 18". That gives the needed headroom in the cockpit so a hard top can be installed. Say the width of the beam, and about 42" fore to aft. A snap in cover will enclose the entire cockpit when needed. Also a nice big front window in the cabin makes for easy access to dropping anchor.
With this simple change, two or three adults can sit in the cabin and have good visability, and the back-to-back lounge seats in the cockpit will be replaced with two buckets on posts or boxes (for storage). That leaves an open deck behind the captians chair of about 3 to 4 feet. I like adding the open space in the rear because this is one tiny cabin boat and people getting in and out and putting on PDF's and handling tow toys need some space. And by re-using the cuddy as regular sitting area, then there is still seating for 4 adults, and there will still be a small triangle area in the very front of the bow where the under 6 yr olds can snug up in the bow area for naps. As long as we are not under way (hee hee hee)
I'll post a picture after I get the boat in my yard and I can photograh and photoshop the pics so you have a better idea of what my tape measure tells me and what I see in my mind.
Also, all that darn carpet has got to go in favor of that vinyl looking stuff that Boomyal used in his boat. I found that carpet and sand and sea water don't mix or smell nice.
Thanks for reading!
Mark.
