Something is finally hatching....

In the last two days of work, I have built a hatch in a very beefy manner, as well as get a transducer for the boat and get the boat registered for the summer.
The aft hatch to cover the outboard well is of similar construction to the fore deck hatch, in that it is of very sturdy construction.  The idea is that this hatch may have to take the weight and forces of breaking water over the stern deck, also known as "being pooped."  While the aft locker is open to the water because the outboard goes through the hull, the water would drain relatively quickly, but 50+ gallons of water at one extreme end of the boat for any length of time in seas rough enough to poop the boat is not a recipe for success.  The other idea behind making an extremely sturdy hatch is that it might help to prevent someone from stealing my outboard motor when locked down.






When I decided to round the edges of the hatch, instead of using a belt sander to do the majority of the work, I opted for a draw plane.  Yes, it is very old fashioned, but there is something really satisfying about using hand tools that are sharp and do the job.  When we live in a world where everything is powered, from our transportation to our tooth brushes, having an old fashioned way to do the same job is refreshing.  Even though I finished the sanding of the piece with the belt sander, I felt a lot more satisfaction knowing that it was my eye and steady (or not so steady) hands that shaped the wood before getting a final sanding.  It probably also helps that I had a really good idea of how the construction would go, so I could take a little extra time to do things the old fashioned way.

What is upcoming that I have NO idea how it is going to go is putting the transducer in.  I want to do an in hull transducer, rather than a thru-hull transducer.  This means that I will NOT be drilling another hole in the bottom of the boat (shocking, I know), but rather building a box or pipe for the transducer to be mounted in within the hull.  It will then be filled with water/oil/antifreeze and the sound waves beamed right through the fiberglass hull.  This eliminates yet another thru-hull, which is especially good, since bronze transducers are BIG money, and plastic ones for an ocean bound vessel are fool hardy, particularly below water line.  The down side is that I will lose some of the deep sensing capabilities, but when the water is several hundred feet deep, I don't really need to know how deep.  The depth I need to know is when it is approaching 4 feet, because that is when keel meets granite.  If you're not familiar with granite, granite is not what would give in that meeting.