Building the battery mount

I've had Perseverance out on the water three times now. Something I've learned, not surprisingly, is that performance is improved somewhat by shifting a certain amount of weight forward.

Perseverance at the dock, yesterday afternoon

Part of that has to do with the fact that the boat is driven from the aft seat. Another part of the equation is the admittedly limited power of its 8hp motor. With just me aboard, the 8hp Nissan does a fine job. However, with another adult-sized person in the boat, the motor struggles somewhat.

There is also a necessary balance. As I found out with my son in the boat yesterday, shifting too much weight too far forward makes the boat want to plow at full throttle.

So, back to the point: I wanted to mount the battery forward, to help with planing performance.... or at the very least, to keep from putting more weight unnecessarily in the back.

Sanding the excessive epoxy runs off the side of the stem.

Fitting the battery mount supports.

After a little more sanding on the stem, and filing the notches in the mahogany supports, they finally fit.

The mount itself is also made from mahogany, and will be epoxied to the supports.

My original plan was to bright-finish the whole battery mount, but since the supports are not visible from any angle, I will probably just paint them Whidbey White, along with touch-up paint on the stem.

I'm using an Attwood small battery box, along with the included mounting hardware that fits into grooves underneath the box.

I'll also place mahogany blocks on either side, to prevent side-to-side movement. Theoretically, the included hardware should limit front-to-back movement. We'll see.