Michael's Boatbuilding Blog: More Utility updates

In the last post about the Utility, we left off mentioning some updates I had planned for the boat — specifically including a way to mount the trolling motor without cramming it up against the outboard.

It took a while, conjuring up all sorts of design ideas, until I finally decided on a simple and easy solution. I decided to make a removable bracket for the trolling motor that would simply bolt to a piece of blocking on the inside of the transom.

Here it is, mounted on the boat:

The removable part simply bolts on to the blocking inside the transom with two stainless steel carriage bolts, and wing nuts with lock washers.

The bracket allows the trolling motor to be mounted sufficiently far away from the outboard so that it is easy to use. Here is a back view with the trolling motor attached. You can see wood filler on the bracket, as I'm still in the process of finishing these pieces. I plan to bright finish them so they accent the painted parts of the boat.

Back at the lake, with the trolling motor bracket removed. The blocking is still unfinished

At the lake on another day, testing the bracket in actual use for the first time. (It works very well.)

Here is the removed bracket, with a couple layers of epoxy on it. I'm still in the process of finishing these pieces.

A couple of other new additions:

I made some simple steps for the trailer. This makes it much easier and more comfortable climbing into the boat while it's on the trailer. I made these from leftover scraps I had laying around, tread tape, and some 5" galvanized bolts with lock washers.

I decided I needed a small cooler that is color-coordinated with the boat. The aquamarine on the cooler isn't a perfect match for the sea foam green on the boat... but I think they go together okay. These little Igloo Playmate coolers are great, (and inexpensive). A Yeti it is not, but for a day's outing on the water, it gets the job done.

Today, when I took the boat back to the lake, I saw far more water inside it than I wanted to see.

It has been raining a lot lately. The boat cover I bought does a good job, (particularly with the plywood half-cover I made, but it's not exactly watertight).

When I saw how much standing water had been sitting in the boat for a few days... I seriously reconsidered my view on transom drains. I think I'm gonna install some.

I'm planning to add a plywood floor in-between the seats.

I'm also planning to relocate the battery from the front of the boat to underneath the rear seat. This will make it much more accessible when using the trolling motor.

Hot coffee on the lake, early in the morning. Perfect.

On the subject of finishing the trolling motor bracket... I decided to also make some cosmetic improvements in the boat. A lot of the fit and finish on the inside of the boat is... well... let's call it "utilitarian." I'm sanding away epoxy runs, etc, and doing a little touch-up paint. Since the boat is stored outside now, I'm just doing small sections at a time rather than take on the whole interior at once.

A bit of surface sanding on the port side of the transom.