Part 5: Building Our Trailerable Dreamboat

Work Inside the Hull—Side Decks, Foredeck, Anchor-Line Box, and More!

Quick Review: We‘re writing about construction of a 20-foot trailerable cabin cruiser designed for an older couple (that’s us) who want to drag their boat to all kinds of watery destinations. It’ll be comfortable, fuel-efficient, slow and traditional looking. Earlier installments in the series appeared here November 13, December 17, January 18 and February 11. And here’s a helpful tip: If you click on the little “Shallow Draft” line just above “Part 5” in the headline, it’ll open every Shallow Draft column we’ve posted, making it easier to scroll back to previous installments in this series. (And hey, while you’re there, feel free to read other earlier columns, and maybe become a paid subscriber, in case you aren’t already!) - Marty

Above - A possible color scheme, and near completion of decking…see below.

Two Things Happened Since Our Last Installment:

First, we finished building both new bulwark planks, running bow to stern, made up of two laminated layers of 4mm Okoume marine plywood. They stand about 5-1/2 inches above the old side deck, and follow bevel angle of the original sheer planks on the Welsford 6 Meter Whaler hull. A bit later in the build process, both bulwark planks will be topped with hardwood cap rails…but first we’ll tackle side decks, foredeck and maybe even construction of the boat’s pilothouse and forward cuddy cabin.

Above - Before starting to build decks atop spacer blocks that supported the new bulwark planks, we needed a temporary floor inside the hull—something to stand on when doing many of the next steps of construction. So, the quick solution was a 4x8 sheet of half-inch fir plywood, adjoined by smaller scraps of fir ply so we could stop tripping over frames.