Building an Outboard Trawler - Starting to Look Like Something

The plan for today was to finish up the putty work, finish up the sanding work and cut out the forward windows (port lights). Simple enough.

Not so simple. I figured that I'd be busy for about a half hour cutting out the three forward windows. It took me all day! But that's okay because this is an important step and besides, I understand that time spent at the boatyard is not deducted from your lifespan.

Meanwhile, Donna continued hand-sanding the many filler patches until mid-afternoon when we worked together to apply more putty on a few final spots.

To cut out the windows, I first measured and marked a vertical center line on each panel (on the inside) that I could match up with a center line on our template. Then we considered the overall height of the windows in each panel. Our options were (1) have all three windows the same height or (2) have the center window higher than the other two. We finally decided on having the center window slightly higher. We cut out the center window. Then we tried to determine the most appropriate height for the other two. We finally decided to place all the windows at a height relative to the camber of the cabin top (the same distance down from the top, measured at the center of each window).

We think it will look fine although we may have to wait 'till the roof is on before we get a true sense. You have to see the boat from several angles in order to appreciate the aesthetics. Here are a few photos;

We hope you agree that she looks quite nice.

This was another milestone day. The wheelhouse window cut-outs bring out the 'trawler' look and, so far, we are happy with it.

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