El & Bill - we seldom see Sandhill flocks in the spring, just pairs. A pair came over my house this afternoon after visiting a winter wheat field on the edge of town. Snow here is at 110% average in the mountains, so the streams should have good flow into the summer. Are you folks heading Yellowstone way this summer? And how about doing the Big Horn Canyon run? It is a good 70 miles of deep water and towering rock walls. The water should be excellent in May.
I have been spending much time this winter creating a functional forward facing seat on the port side. Edna doesn't like to ride backwards or sideways. Can't blame her. My design really split the big storage area into two areas, one on the level of the table floor and below to the sole,and the other above it with a drawer (close to 3 cubic feet) which has side ball bearing slides and pulls into the middle. No more lifting the seat cushion to get to the food stores. The seat cushion still remains as original.
With the box in the rear position, there is thirteen inches of floor space to the bulkhead, plenty of room for the feet. I used high grade cabinet material for the drawer - one half inch ply with 9 laminations, screwed and epoxied together, and faced the box with Okume ply stained teak and high grade teak for trim and a white porcelain pull.
I'm using a different system than the factory uses for floor slides. Nothing sticks out into the floor below the table It is all contained under the top - two sets of 3/4 inch white oak rails with solid teak rectangular pieces attached to the lower box to run parallel between the rails. It works!
Using the back cushion (keeping it original) in its reverse position required some slight modification of the starboard piece screwed to the seat box to act as a rest for the table when it is down. I routed the starboard in several places to allow for a 1/4 inch aluminum slotted plate to rise vertically to act as a stiffener for the back cushion. When the seat box is back in its original position, the plate simply drops down out of the way.
Regarding the table with the forward facing seat in position, at present I am just moving it aft - with additional brackets arranged to allow that, negated the need to cut it, but I may change my mind later. My next project is to make the storage area below the sink and Wallas truly functional, a real challenge. Being retired sure helps. John
WAH?... on Sunday! :wink: 8)
