Footwell

Howard's idea of a footwell has generated a lot of interest. I thought I'd take a quick post to describe mine and the decisions I made.

I think Howard was the first to mention the footwell as a drainage well. That made sense to me that it would be at the lowest point of the boat. Most people say that bailers in the aft transom wells do not work. 

In the below picture, you can see the open hatch at the aft of the boat. There are no wells behind it because I didn't bother with them. You can also see the two empty spots at the bottom of the foot well. 

Footwell looking aft.

Close up of the footwell looking fore.

The cutouts for the bailer wells were pre-made when I reversed the tail of the sole and laid that down inside the already doubled portion of the hull. 

Now I have space for bailers in the lowest spot of the boat. Unfortunately, Sergei says that a mini bailer that low in the water does not work. I'm considering buying the larger bailers. If anyone has opinions on what might work, please let me know.

The height of the hatches matches the sole fillers

You can also see in the above pictures that the height of the hatch covers is very similar to the height of the 6mm plywood pieces. This is by design. I can lay down on the entire floor without any untoward bumps underneath me. Sleeping in a bag with a thin camping pad and my two yoga seat pads is very comfortable. No lumps at all.

I didn't get any pictures, but I cut two pieces of plywood and glued them together so I'd have side runner channels (pictures before painting in this post). Before I painted, I cut that piece in half. It stores in the cabin and I can pull it out for sleeping or if I want to run without a footwell for some reason.