The "Mother of all Mods."

[Joe11688]

This has to be one of my best mods ever. My boat hook always presented a problem when it came to stowing it in the cabin. My flag stick was also too long for the short space I had over the quarter births and the final straw was my 6.5' Whisker Pole. Then it dawned on me. Why not cut the aft Starboard bulkhead and gain some room inside the lazarette?
I know,-- it looks kind of fugly in there beyond that rear bulkhead, but who the heck is going to be looking in there besides me?

I cut the bulkhead and made up a solid wood shelf and screwed it in along with some headliner material to pad it.

The pictures show the aft Starboard bulkhead looking into that cubby hole under the cockpit seats on that side.
The second picture shows the boat hook and pig stick on the left, and the Whisker Pole on the right. I even have room for my fishing pole. You wouldn't even know I had a whisker pole in the cabin where I have it hid right behind the companionway bulkhead.
This mod seems to work on an O'Day 222 and it may work on a 22 and a 23 as well.

Both areas under the cockpit seats are going to be used for storage space. I'm omitting the mattresses in these areas as they aren't really needed.

I think I've probably done about 35 modifications to this boat through the years but this particular mod has got to be the mother of all mods. Hopefully my cabin will be less cluttered and I'll be able to access my gear a lot easier when I'm out on my weekly cruises.
I just built that paper towel holder/shelf about a week ago and finally mounted it on the companionway bulkhead on the same side as that other mod just yesterday at the club dock. My whisker pole is mounted directly behind that shelf and you'd never know it was there unless you looked inside that cubby hole.

Joe

 

[Stu Jackson]

Very clever, well done. It's funny how "stuff" seems to find its own way into the "right" spot when ya think about it. It's like moving into a house: which cupboard should the dishes go into, etc.? "Stuff" found great spaces on all our boats, with the one important proviso: everything has it's place, everything should go into its place, and shouldn't have to have separate spots so it doesn't move when we're sailing. Don't put it down, put it away!

Enjoy, nice to get "new found space" back.

 

[oliversdad]

Looks like another ingenious mod Joe! Good work sir!

 

[Joe11688]

Thanks Stu! It's hard to stow certain items on a small boat. It's really important to me to have that boat hook where I can reach for it fast if I have to.
Outside of that, I'm like a pack rat. I bring a lot of gear with me when I go on a cruise, probably more than I need. Consequently my cabin always looks cluttered and I get embarrassed when people see it at the club dock.
I have two compartments in those cubby holes that I never used because they were a pain to access. I'll use them now that I've omitted the mattresses in there.

Tomorrow, I'm going in the cabin of my boat and I'm going to think of another mod that I can do, like the DIY boom break using the Black Diamond Super Eight mountain climbing ascending device that I bought last year on the web. My friend Wayne installed one on his Seaward 22 last year and he said it works great.
http://www.sail-world.com/cruising/index.cfm?nid=73062&rid=11
I'm going to see if I can get him to stop at the house and give me some pointers on setting it up, where the mast and boom are set up on my boat next to the house.
Our club docks are going in this weekend so I won't be splashing her for at least another week. It will give me plenty of time to do what I want to do on her.

Joe

 

[Indysailor]

Hey Joe-
How is that forward hook (third picture) attached to hull? I've been looking for a way to stow a boom tent and thought about something similar, but I thought screws there would go right through the hull....

 

[TENACITY CS36T]

I would say velcro would do it..

 

[Joe11688]

Hey Joe-
How is that forward hook (third picture) attached to hull? I've been looking for a way to stow a boom tent and thought about something similar, but I thought screws there would go right through the hull....

I attached the metal hooks to a couple of short narrow pieces of 1/4" plywood and I glued some heavy duty velcro to the back of them. The heavy duty Velcro can be obtained in an auto parts store. I used it for picture frames in my boat and also my round battery operated LED lights in the cabin. I got rid of those large hideous dome lights in the cabin a few years ago and went with the round LED battery lights. Gluing Velcro to the back of these lights would allow me to move them around to different areas in the cabin. I didn't have the heart to cut the wires that are protruding from the headliner where the dome lights were located and they look kind of hacky sticking out of the ceiling headliner.

I just got an idea of how to hide those wires! :dance: Maybe I can use some PVC Foam Board or Starboard and make up two small junction boxes to use to cover them. I could stick them to the headliner with glued Velcro! Hey what the heck. It's worth a shot.

I like that PVC FB because you can glue it with PVC cement and you can spray paint it with Krylon. What a pregnant idea that was!

 

[Indysailor]

Thanks Joe- I've tried regular velcro on the cabin liner in my boat with little success. Keep those mods coming!

 

[Joe11688]

Thanks Joe- I've tried regular Velcro on the cabin liner in my boat with little success. Keep those mods coming!

I'll try to keep the mods coming but I have to be very careful not to overdo it with all of this hard thinking to keep from hurting myself.

There has to be something else I can do other than refinishing my tiller. Maybe I can make a cover for my tiller out of some of the left over Sumbrella that I have kicking around the house. Better still, I'll try to get my wife to make it for me. :dance:

Joe

 

[billh]

Looks good Joe.

 

[Joe11688]

Looks good Joe.

Thank you. I'm really happy with that mod. It was fun to do and it was a lot easier than the one I'm working on right now.

Right now I'm building a combination shelf/paper towel holder to be mounted on that same companionway bulkhead on the Starboard side.

The inside bulkhead slants in at the top about 11 degrees so in order to have the shelf level I had to make some fancy cuts. I plan on buying one of those nautical looking fiddles for it that they sell at Lowe's. I don't know how good this thing is going to look when I'm finished. I'm kind of a hack when it comes to fancy woodwork.
One of the guys in our club is an excellent craftsman and he does woodworking for a living. I think I'll try to avoid him like the plague lest I look ashamed after he feasts his eyes on my poor craftsmanship.

 

[Joe11688]

Thanks Joe- I've tried regular velcro on the cabin liner in my boat with little success. Keep those mods coming!

Here's a mod that I designed last week. It's a combination shelf/ paper towel holder that I just assembled last night. I plan on mounting it on that same side as my other mod, on the Starboard companionway bulkhead. The bulkhead slants in about 11 degrees at the ceiling and I had to do some fancy cutting in order for the shelf to be level in the cabin.

I had mocked it up out of pine first just to see how it was going to look and the final product is made of Poplar, Mahogany plywood, and pre-made galley rail that I bought at Home depot.

I just stained it today with a dark red Mahogany stain. When I get it finished I'll bring down to the club and mount it on my boat. I splashed her last Tuesday.
My woodworking skills are starting to improve a little better than they were but I still have a long way to go yet. I still have enough Poplar and galley rail for another project if I decide to do another one.

 

[dparilla]

Very nice!

 

[Joe11688]

Thanks Dan! Good luck with your projects.

Joe

 

[Erieau]

Holy cats, that paper towel holder is beautiful!
I was just wondering what to use as a counter-back fiddle, and that pre-made rail looks like just the thing. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Joe11688]

Holy cats, that paper towel holder is beautiful!
I was just wondering what to use as a counter-back fiddle, and that pre-made rail looks like just the thing. Thanks for the idea.

Thanks Joe! If you make one, don't use 1/4" plywood like I did. Last night I drilled four holes through the plywood for the mounting screws and I plan on using four stainless steel cup washers for a better screw hold on the bulkhead. The screws and cup washers will be hidden behind the paper towel roll and I don't plan on putting anything too heavy on that shelf, but thinking back now, I wish I'd have done something a little different in constructing that shelf in regard to fastening povisions.

 

[emergpa1]

Very nice work and a great idea joe! I am feeling a little guilty for buying and spending all my time and money on the renken 18. I'm beginning to realize that if I get into some project I get carried away and don't know when to say, "good enough". I think my time and money would have been better spent on my girl.

 

[Joe11688]

Very nice work and a great idea joe! I am feeling a little guilty for buying and spending all my time and money on the renken 18. I'm beginning to realize that if I get into some project I get carried away and don't know when to say, "good enough". I think my time and money would have been better spent on my girl.

Every boater has owned at least two boats at one time or another, me included. I had great ideas of fixing up a Sturdee Catboat I once owned. I once sailed it in the lake next to my home during the winter time about five days before Christmas and I would trailer the boat to Bristol RI and sail that area. The boat had a convertible top and it could be warm and toasty under it during the cold days with my Origo Heat Pal sitting inside the bow of the boat.
All in all, it was a fun boat but it wouldn't hold a candle to my O'Day 222 as far as stability, speed, sailing ability, and comfort.
I advertised it in "By The Sea" and a guy came all the way up to Ma from Sandy Hook NJ and picked it up with his trailer.
I had some fun with that boat years ago, but I don't miss it today.

 

[emergpa1]

Every boater has owned at least two boats at one time or another, me included. I had great ideas of fixing up a Sturdee Catboat I once owned. I once sailed it in the lake next to my home during the winter time about five days before Christmas and I would trailer the boat to Bristol RI and sail that area. The boat had a convertible top and it could be warm and toasty under it during the cold days with my Origo Heat Pal sitting inside the bow of the boat.
All in all, it was a fun boat but it wouldn't hold a candle to my O'Day 222 as far as stability, speed, sailing ability, and comfort.
I advertised it in "By The Sea" and a guy came all the way up to Ma from Sandy Hook NJ and picked it up with his trailer.
I had some fun with that boat years ago, but I don't miss it today.

thats a great looking little boat, very salty looking even with the top. the renken is coming along. i am at the stage of reattaching everything. I did have to replace some rot in the core along the foredeck, and along the rear deck where a cleat attaches. New carpet inside. new forward aluminum frame hatch, and i am cleaning up the mast and boom. the sails will do for season or two.

 

[Joe11688]

A quote from the water rat in Kenneth Grahame's "Wind in the Willows":

''Believe me, my young friend, there​

is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." :dance: