I decided to enter into the Spring Lake Wooden Boat Show next week so I made it a priority to skip out on some weekend festivities to get some work done. Sadly, I spent most of the day updating equipment with new saw blades and out at home Depot buying some router bits so I can shave the 90 degree angle off the soon to be put in dashboard. I finally finished putting the bench in, which is only 1/4 plywood, and put two support beams in that sit on the outer most battens. To do this I built up some wood under each batten; nothing special but works well. I then put in the support beam for the seating bench and the support beam for the splash well. The coamings weren't perfectly straight (twisted in some spots) so I had to keep running back and forth between the angle grinder, table saw, and hand plane until I get everything to fit just right. I ended with the dashboard but I'm not completely happy with the grain that will be showing. I may replace it and then use the current one for the support beams for the hatch.
On another note, I'm really struggling with the steering system. The steering wheel I bought doesn't seem to fit the helm and despite the cable having enough give and take, it looks like the outboard will barely turn when fully extended. Next week at the boat show I'm going to ask for suggestions and if I don't have any luck there I'll head over to the Glen-L forum.
The picture below is me sitting in it for the first time. It felt really good to hold the steering wheel in place and get a feel for how small it really is, or should I say cozy. My job should be slowing down so I'm hoping to have some time later in the day to do some boat work.
