Bulkhead removal on older 16

A

Alyssa Jean

New member
Well, today I took a deep breath and fired up my little roto-zip and cut out the left side of the bulkhead in Allysa Jean.
It took about 20 minutes to remove the cup holder, depth finder, fire extinquisher, and the hinged top access door and pull out all the stuff in the cuddy cabin, remove three of the bolts that fasten the bottom. Then about 45 minutes of cutting with the roto zip.
I will add some more pictures as I decide what to do with the space. Maybe take out the seat post on the port side and do something with a bench that goes all the way into the cuddy area. I need to pick up some of the black edging stuff to finish of the cut edge.

The pics of it as it is now are in my Allysa Jean album HERE
 
Nice job. I like that. I have thought of doing the same thing on my 16' angler. I currently have the passenger seat out and may replace it with the Garelick Jumpseat that folds up. A berth is certainly an option on the angler with this modification. The removal could be reversible , too.


JT :thup
F/V "Palomino"
 
Nice job cutting it out. I have considered doing the opposite on the cruiser, that is fitting a rod from the dash to the port bulkhead and then covering it with canvas. Just something to cover up the storage mess on the cushions up there.
 
Yeah, I'm in line for the next 16 Angler bulkhead removal! David obviously has a steadier hand that I do. I really do have this sleeping platform ala the 16 Cruiser designed in my head. NOW, David, are you going to enlarge the opening in Anna Leigh's bulkhead the way Ron did on Meander? And just for fun, what is the make and model of the cutting tool you used? (Not that Patty would let me anywhere near a boat - any boat - with one of those in my hand!)
 
It is a DeWalt DW660 Cut Out Tool. About $40 on sale last month at the hardware store. There are a couple of different types of bits. One for drywall and one for fiberglass and other light stuff. I went through one bit for the whole job.

Patti is a wise person.

You can certainly borrow my tool if you really think you want to do it yourself.

BTW, the old black edging from the outboard edge of the piece I took out, when re-straighted, was exactly the right length for the new cut edge.
 
This morning about 9 o'clock I emailed the factory with the question of removing the lower 10" high rib that runs from side to side. I hesitate to remove or partially remove it because it appears to be structural. Here is the answer that was just emailed back to me at 1030.

This being the only athwartship bulkhead in the boat makes us feel removal could effect the integrity of the hull. It will give you extra hull support also in this area if beaching so I would not recommend removal. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.

Happy boating and thank you for your support in our product.

Cam Perry
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Seems like you could remove the rib if you replaced it with something similar to the bed platform like the cruiser has. That would give the same, or more support. The cruiser doesn't have anything where that rib is to support the floor. They might be counting the boxes the seats sit on, but they are not bonded to the floor in the front so there is little support there.
 
Take this with a grain of salt, since I have not examined this boat model carefully. But the "rib" looks as if it is glassed to the floor, and perhaps tabbed to the hull, on the sides. I would suspect that if you replaced this "rib"--or cut it down to 3" height, and then put foam next to it, and reinforced this by building an "H" section, glassed into the side of the hull, and the remaining part of the rib, that it would be just as strong--and maybe stronger on the actual bottom where the factory seems concerned.
 
OK, well, David obeyed Patty and did not give me a power tool! He came over last Wednesday and did the job, and a fine job of it! Here is what Crabby Lou now looks like in the cabin. Easy access to everything in the cuddy - we have everything there we need to go cruising, and I do mean EVERYTHING (there is also a bin in the cockpit). If I was Bob Austin, I would gin up a nice new fiberglass dash shelf so there would be a little more space to put stuff, but I'm not so I I guess I won't...I am still toying with the idea of the sleeping platform, cut a little more for a hair more width and I am pretty sure it would be just right. But we are completely set up to sleep on an air mattress in the cockpit, so it isn't urgent. And of course I get skeptical looks every time I mention it...

Crabby_Lou_Forward_Bulkhead_Modification_11_15_08.jpg
 
Nice job David .Pat are you thinking of building up the cabin part and making it a mini- cruiser with a little deck coming out of the cabin . Pat look at the 205 marunaut that Toland is building and get some ideas keep us posted. I always liked the lines of the angler but liked the versitility of the cruiser better You guys could have the best of both worlds .
 
Yes, I am aiming for an "Cruiseler" or an "Anglecruise" or whatever! There is no thought of extending the cabin roof, the camperback is just fine for enclosing everything.

There are two things I would like now. One is a dash shelf, maybe David will put his talents to figuring that one out, my skills are too crude to pull it off. The other is a sleeping platform. I actually think I could do the sleeping platform. Imagine the left third of the lower half of the remaining bulkhead being cut out. It woud still be plenty rigid, and you could have about four feet clear. The platform in the cuddy would be a piece of cake. The part that would extend into the cabin (made possible by removing the pedestal seats and using the Cabella quad seat stands) would be hinged in the middle longitudinally and stow in the cockpit under the gunwale . This would just be a lot better than the air mattress, it would leave a bit of room to move around in the moring...

Have looked at the Marinaut, very cool, very anxious to see it, hope Dave and Ben will be showing it at the SBS.



jennykatz":1gp9kf0f said:
Nice job David .Pat are you thinking of building up the cabin part and making it a mini- cruiser with a little deck coming out of the cabin . Pat look at the 205 marunaut that Toland is building and get some ideas keep us posted. I always liked the lines of the angler but liked the versitility of the cruiser better You guys could have the best of both worlds .
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Pat,
You have a custom fit dash that was removed by Dave. With another cut or two you could be set. It could be done so you can remove and replace it easily.



JT
F/V "Palomino" :thup
 
I think you could do a sleeping platform that is analogous to the one in the marinaut. Rather than making a removable piece, why not consider a piece with a few hinges that could be folded back onto itself in the cuddy? Specifically, I'm thinking of a 2 piece unit with hinge at the cuddy bulkhead rib that runs port to starboard and a hinge near the center of the piece running fore and aft. That might allow you to just fold it in half left to right and fold it back in to the cuddy. Just a thought.
 
Two pictures in my album one showing an option for a dash mod. The second shows how I plan to open up the bow area while saving the dash and still being able to close /lock up if needed.


JT
F/V "Palomino" :smiled
 
Yes, that was David's suggestion too. I will look and see how that might work. I actually don't care if it is removable or not, maybe part of it just gets "tabbed" back in (Bob, why the heck do you live in Florida??)...
JT":2jey8o84 said:
Pat,
You have a custom fit dash that was removed by Dave. With another cut or two you could be set. It could be done so you can remove and replace it easily.



JT
F/V "Palomino" :thup
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Finally got around to cutting a pattern and taking it over to a canvas shop in Anacortes. I added the snaps at home. That pretty much completes that job. I also made a new hub cap for the helm.
MMMM, now what can I do.

C_Dory_16_Vinyl_Curtain_002.sized.jpg
 
The canvas shop that is in the west end of the same building as West Marine. Don't know the name. I just stopped in with a pattern I had made and asked how much. $60 total.
 
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