Still Finishing!
In advance of shoving it in the garage I dropped it in the water and and used masking tape to mark the water line. I decided to use "Electric Blue" Easypoxy for the hull side and it would run down to about an inch from the water line. Also it will be used as trim around the cabin roof. A "Pearl Gray" stripe was added at the top of the bulwark. If you are interested in my experience applying Easypoxy just click here.
With the carpet installed I then added the berth doors and lid. I was afraid that I might have a problem with these rattling from engine vibration and had taken the time to add an adjustable block on the lid so when it was closed it held the doors firmly shut. It works well and I have no rattles.
As I continued to experiment I found that the bulk of the noise was coming from the lower section of the engine - below the hood line. Simply standing the cushion on edge in the splashwell and leaning it against the engine greatly deadened the sound. Although this is a workable solution it is fairly crude. I had been toying with the idea of adding a piece of 3/4" plywood 12" wide to the forward section of the splashwell.
Before I went to the trouble of painting it I decided to leave it bare and test out the concept on my next outing. The picture shows it in this unpainted state. I can report that it worked very well. I think once I paint it I may add a scrap of carpet to the underside to help absorb more sound. But it is definitely something I am going to include on the finished CS. It really reduced the noise level in the cockpit.
I also have added fuel to the built-in tanks for the first time. According to my calculations when building the tanks they should have held about 30 gallon. When I filled them the actual amount was 31 gallon so I wasn't to far off. With only me in the boat it handled the additional weight with no problem. I did need more trim but still could get it where I needed it. Top speed seemed to be unaffected but you could tell the transom was deeper in the water at cruise. There was also more spray coming up the side of the hull and would actually wet the rear sidedecks a little. I am just about sure the extra weight is going to affect my fuel
economy but how much is the question. I planned on checking it but I some
how got the calibration on the fuel flow gauge all messed up. I had
be trying to adjust it with the 6.6 gallon portable tank but I think the
sampling was just too small. With the tanks full it was showing about
7 MPG at 24 MPH. I new this was wrong (at least I hoped it was!).
The addition of 180 or so pounds will reduce the MPG I am sure but not
that much. I decided to run the whole 31 gallon out and use the readings
to re-calibrate the gauge. Sure enough - when it finally ran out
of gas (had the portable along to get me home) it showed that I had used
40 gallon out of a 31 gallon tank. I reset it with the right numbers
and it is back up to about 9.6 MPG at 26 MPH. I now need to refill
it and get some accurate numbers.
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