Whaler bench tank seat in 20MA

[FishStretcher]

I did something a bit different on my 20MA- I pulled my under deck tank and put foam there on my 20 MA, as well as under the cap, to resist sinking and turtling.

I have a 20 gallon tank in the giant console where the head used to be. I had a big cooler as a seat forward of that, but decided to add a whaler style under seat tank there to add mass forward for running singlehanded in the snotty stuff, and for more range.

Step one: buy the tank.
Step two: trial fit
Step three: panic

Step zero: unwrap boat from crappiest winter ever. The 60 MPH winds chafed the tarp tie downs.

Looks like there will be just enough foot room.

I think the bench seat will be made with leftover 10mm [3/8"] pre-skinned nida-core from LBI. I plan to saw kerf bend a 1-1/2 radius on the forward edge. The new T-top will go along either side of the tank, just in front of that 38" wide console. And everything gets lots of sanding and gel coat, finally.

The exercise balls are from storing the boat. They are great for keeping the boat cover from developing low spots and they flex under load, breaking up ice. And there are definitely fewer sharp corners- and they are easy to store.

[HatTrick]

Damn, I have that exact tank for sale, I could have gotten it to you cheap.

[FishStretcher]

I would have liked it for less than the west marine price!

There are a few other locals who might be able to use it. CHANCE1234, maybe?

If my nidacore origami trick to make a seat works out well, I will post plans.

[FishStretcher]

So I might have mentioned that I plan on folding up the pre-skinned nidacore for the tank cover/ bench seat. I think they have 24 oz on each skin? I got my 80/20 frame cut to size, waiting on some hardware. That will bond to the deck with 3M 5200. It makes a platform for the tank and hard points for the removable seat without swiss cheesing the balsa core deck forward of the console. The cover will be folded, and rebonded with biax or something on the inside of the bends. I did a test with my 18V ryobi panel saw. I had a nice radius in about 5 minutes, totally freehand. I just wanted to see if it would work.

I rinsed the test piece off under the sink, so there is some water on it, which looks a bit odd in the pictures.

[FishStretcher]

The tank mounted on a nidacore-80/20 frame so I can stick it down without drilling into the deck, and have floating fasteners for the cover/ bench seat. I used "15 series" 80/20 from McMaster-Carr and the stock Moeller hold downs, bent straight.

[FishStretcher]

Took the day off yesterday for weather reasons.

Got the bench seat/ dog house folded up and tabbed on the interior yesterday. Those are McMaster-Carr fiberglass angles in red.

Ran out of premade nidacore panels, had to lay one up last week. Chickened out and went with two layers of 1708 per skin with VE. That side is heavier and ought to be very strong. The premade panels are nice to work with. Wish I could have bought a 2'x4' instead of a wet layup for the last one. It is a lot easier.

Will grind a 1/2 fillet on the exterior and tape seams and fair with VE filler today. Maybe gelcoat.

Also got the t-top mounted down. The 5200 from last week cured and the 1" thick garolite load spreaders aren't going anywhere. The 1/4-20 tapped holes in the load spreader worked great, and no holes in the deck.