Dry fitting hatches

I've had the hatches awhile, but decided to cut the holes last weekend.

The measuring was a real pain. First, the boat isn't setting level, so I can't use a level. I had to mark it off by reference points. And my mad jigsaw skillz are still not to be trusted. That meant I needed to use the handy battery circular saw.

As I was placing the bulkhead 3 hatches, I decided that I needed to get the sole hatches in place also to make sure they didn't interfere.

I finally got them all measured and cut.

The sole behind B3 has me a bit worried about it's structure, so I'm adding some cleats to strengthen those, but I think I'll be happy with them when done. I can stand on the hatches, so they are tough, but the backing needs to be strong as well.

Measured and holes cut.

Further back shot.

Over the weekend, I also ended up cutting the hatches into the seats. More shots of those later.

Pulling out the sole piece and the seat tops meant that I had to rearrange my overhead storage. I've got the pieces out that I need now. I should have planned better and arranged my pieces in overhead storage so that I could get the ones I needed first. That problem is solved now.

Now that I've got those hatches in place, I need to decide if my hatch cover over the well will be large enough for batteries.

I called Gig Harbor Boatworks and ordered the drop down electric motor that they have, complete with the aluminum and phenolic mounting bracket.  I'm really excited about that. I think it's a great solution.

Now I'll need to cut and install some transom doublers under the seat. I'll also need to do some electrical work and decide what AGM cells to buy. Wow, AGM cells are expensive.

Then I can decide if the well hatch needs to be bigger than 13x24. Probably, but we'll see.

I'd appreciate any advice on AGM cells from the gallery.