What to do about this bit of butchery

[madolive3]

I bought the boat this way. PO had a trolling motor bracket up front and cut this into this beautiful boat to store his Battery.
I am leaning towards buying a hatch from the marine salvage yard and doing this right, if there is a right way. The other option would be to pull it and glass over it. I think it could be a good anchor storage for a sea anchor to keep the boat straight for fishing.... Any thoughts?

The boat is a 17 foot runabout. 1974 v173,

 

[mr 88]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

Insulation and a drain hole = excellent beer cooler.Although up near the bow things may be shaken up a bit.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

Ohh that's easy.... build a rumble seat there!

you can buy a deck hatch and a hatch liner.... viola storage box...

personally I think I'd glass it over

 

[oops!]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

glass over it....

done right......no one will know....

a hatch up there is a bad idea.....even as an anchor locker......it would throw the weight and balance of the boat off

 

[Mark42]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

Yeah, I would just buy an access hatch big enough to cover the hole and call it done. A nice flush mount hatch will look OK, and not stand out like that "circuit panel" door looking hatch.

You could glass it over, and that would be best, but you have to weigh the time, your skill level, vs the cost of a bolt on flush hatch. Maybe even a smoked crank open vent would work.

Something like this for under $40 would be a huge improvement over what is there now. This one is roughly 16 x 11.5" . Nearly flush, and probably the right part for the job. This image came from greatlakesskipper.com. In fact, for those prices, get two and balance out the bow! LOL!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

While I almost never disagree with oops I think this time I have to say I really don't see the weight of dock lines and a sea anchor throwing off any balance.... Again glassing is best but if that is beyond your comfort level and you can live with the look of a hatch I can't see anything at all wrong with that plan...

Even with more weight, most boats respond well to weight up front and you can easily compensate for it being off center with batts on the other side in the stern or for that matter just the driver being on the other side

 

[jacoboregon]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

glass over it....

done right......no one will know....

a hatch up there is a bad idea.....even as an anchor locker......it would throw the weight and balance of the boat off

Now, everyone knows everything is bigger in Texas... but in Kelowna, B.C. too? What size anchor do you use? LOL!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

Op said a SEA anchor.... it's a canvas bag.... 2 lbs

 

[oops!]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

Now, everyone knows everything is bigger in Texas... but in Kelowna, B.C. too? What size anchor do you use? LOL!

its not the anchor.......its the chains....to properly anchor a boat...you need heavy chain equal to the length of the boat.

that little closed bow looks to be 15-17 feet....thats minimum of 15 feet of good chain.....that will pull the weight off balance, due to the fact that the hatch is on the port side.

on bigger boats...its not as much as a factor....but in a little one.....

 

[smclear]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

sea anchors don't use chains. At least, none that I've seen.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery



no chain involved

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

Those Glastrons have several molded fiberglass stringers glued crosswise under the deck to reinforce it. they are filled with foam for upright floatation. You can see the foam in the photos, so the PO has compromised the deck reinforcement. Whatever you do, try to restore some integrity to the deck to reduce flexing if you walk on it.

 

[madolive3]

Re: What to do about this bit of butchery

Yes, there are stringers there. There is also a texture to the glass that would make it very difficult to reglass and blend it in so it would look good. I think I'll buy a hatch and install it properly and reinforce those stringers. thanks for the input.
I was talking about a sea anchor, so just a few pounds up front should be ok. the PO kept his trolling battery up there. There is a lot of potential storage space up there would be a shame not to take advantage somehow.