The Riviera as called out in the plans has a very simple interior. This provides
many opportunities for creativity on the part of the builder.
The first step is to look over the Riviera / Monaco photos on the Glen-L web
site as well as classic boat books. The second step is to assess how the boat
will be used. Optimizing for cruising versus water sports will often lead to
different interior layouts.
Based on this information you can make the first stylistic call. This the fundamental
decision is whether you are going with:
- The "Open Wood Look" interior, as I did
- "Finished Wood Look" - similar to older Chris Crafts
- "Modern Padded Leather / Vinyl Look" - as Bill Yonescu did
- "Riva / European" Look - as Martin Tomunak did
Each one has its own set of trade-offs in style, where the effort is expended,
and cost. For example, with any of the "finished" interior types little
effort is required to be expended keeping the inside of the hull smooth and
pretty when gluing up (other than for personal benefit) as it will be covered
up. If you go with the open wood look, the interior of the hull IS the finished
interior and every imperfection (in the cockpits at least) will show up.
One of the fundamental problems is deciding what to do about the floor boards.
As you make the floor flatter, it will need to be raised to clear frame members
and the stringers. The difference in height between a completely flat floor
and a "reasonably flat floor" is about 6 inches (15cm). The completely
flat floor places the floor at the same height as where the seat bottoms are
shown in the plans. This leads to further modifications and design choices.
Test fitting and sitting
With the seating and control layout being a subjective thing, it is important
to mock-up the interior using scrap materials to make sure that everything and
everybody will fit comfortably. Changing seat height influences dashboard depth,
steering wheel location and angle, throttle location, gauge position, etc. Changing
the floor height impacts leg room which influences seating height, which influences
dashboard depth, steering wheel location, ...
It is nice to test the seating, etc. in a closed shop. Just think of what the
neighbors will say when they see the "crazy boat builder" sitting
in the unfinished boat, holding onto an unconnected steering wheel. At least
don't make any engine sounds as you do it! I hear that it IS common for home
airplane builders to take photos of themselves sitting in the "cockpit"
of the uncovered completed fuselage framework.
As part of the testing and fitting process, you should also consider storage
options. Common storage locations are: bow area, under seats, alongside of the
engine, and under the floor.
Under seat storage
If you make the bench seats narrower ( across the width of the boat) it may
be possible to make them flip forward (like pontoon boat seats). This opens
up storage possibilities. If you push the seat edges out to the sides of the
hull, you may find that it is impossible to flip them up. Test fit them and
tape on some throw able seat cushions to simulate the thickness of the final
upholstered seats when testing the operation of any flipping / folding seats.
Also do the flip-up testing with several people in the cockpit. What is workable
with one person, may not be with 6 or 8 people on board.
In our boat the bench seats are basically fixed, removable for maintenance,
but not convenient enough for most storage. We have the spare propeller mounted
on the side of one of the stringers under the rear bench seat. The rear anchor
is a folding design and it slides under the rear bench as well on the port side.
The forward anchor is a mushroom type which fits nicely behind the driver's
seat. The water intake and plumbing enters on the starboard side. Having the
required access to the sea-cock / water intake valve makes storage on this side
impractical.
The area behind the spotters seat (actually under the forward deck) is used
for the front cockpit fire extinguisher and our "dry clothes" storage.
Under floor storage
Just face it, on this boat, under floor storage is really pretty impractical.
In the forward cockpit, the floor boards are pretty well trapped under the seats.
If the floor boards are made smaller so that they can be pulled up between the
seats rather than forward, then additional bracing is required. The frames also
limit how much length you have available for long items such as skis, paddles,
wake or knee boards, etc.
We leave our boat in the water all summer. This coupled with the boat being
used for water sports means that the bilge always has some water in it. The
bilge pump will get the water down to ~ 3" (maybe having multiple pump
locations would help) and we then have to manually bail and sponge out from
then on. Of course if you haul out every time, then draining is easy. Anything
left in the bilge water for an extended period of time will get slimy (another
storage limitation). Also, any engine oil leaks or spills will coat the bilge
and linger despite your best cleaning efforts. The oil does seem to have a preference
for items left in the bilge vs. the hull. As a side note - be sure to check
the clamp (or lack thereof) on the oil drain hose prior to engine installation!
The rear cockpit floor
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In the rear center section between the stringers, there is some space left
over that is not occupied by the exhaust and sea strainer. We use this
for spare ski ropes and handles. Wherever you put your sea strainer and
sea cock, make sure that they are easily accessible. It does not take
much idling in duckweed to clog the strainer. In addition, most engine
water pumps do not respond to intake resistance very well, so any increased
resistance to water flow can lead to low cooling water pressure and possible
engine over-heating. Hopefully, you should never need to access the seacock
in an emergency, but it is very nice to have it easily visible, to ensure
that the water is "on" prior to stating the engine. Ours is
tucked under the rear seat and the position of the lever can normally
only be felt (up = on, forward = off).
Rear floor with seat removed. The seat overhangs the brace (horizontal board
on top of the stringers in bottom of photo) by about four inches. |
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In our boat, the outer portions of the rear floor are simply the inside
of the hull. A "finished" raised section could be accommodated
without losing much leg room and would also still be easily removed for
cleaning.
This photo shows the center section with the panel removed. The floor
panel rests on the mufflers and a vertical plywood bracket that extends
upwards from one of the frame members. Note the notch in the plywood bracket
for the drive shaft and packing to pass through.
The front of the floor panel ends at the rear of the transmission housing
and this is also approximately where the exhaust angles down as well.
Extending the floor up to the rear of the engine keeps body parts and
ski ropes away from the drive shaft and coupling. Even if you delay the
other floor boards (as we did) in an effort to get the boat in the water,
this section is required.
Note also, the tops of the stringer clips are rounded over to make them
more "foot friendly".
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Front cockpit floor
The outer portions of the front cockpit floor are again simply the inside of
the hull. Here the hull curvature, lack of access around the seats and limited
leg room made floor-boards seem impractical.
Having a "finished" center section of the front cockpit floor is
a necessity. The V-shape of the hull's center section makes for very unstable
footing. The steering cable also passes through this area and should not be
stepped and and is a trip hazard. The floor can be broken into reasonably sized
sections that can easily be lifted or slid out. This is a time where test fitting
around the mocked up seating is very important. It is easy to make the floor
boards too big to be removed once the seats are in place.
Here are a couple of views the front floor. Again, the bench seat is removed
to allow a better view. To remove the floor without removing the front two seats,
the forward edge is lifted with the recessed lifting ring, and then slid forward.
At that point it can be lifted out. There is really no way to lift it straight
up without either narrowing the seats (very uncomfortable) or splitting it into
two sections lengthwise, which would require more bracing. The piece running
horizontally on top of the stringers is the forward support for the bench seat.
It is screwed to the stringers and is unsupported at the outside (hull) ends.
The left photo is a view of the forward edge of the front floor between the
seats. The board at the front edge is the top of the frame gusset. Note that
in both photos, the floor is well below the top of the stringers. I did not
want to simply lay the floor on the stingers as this would have sacrificed too
much leg room. The recessed area in front of the floor is a great place to hold
a cooler. It is easily accessible and not in the way of the driver or passengers.
Forward from there, we normally carry spare life jackets and throwable seat
cushions.
The right photo shows the rear section of the front floor after the floor board
has been lifted out. It is held in place by 2 small aluminum clips in the rear
that keep it from sliding back or jumping up. Simply tilt it up and it will
clear the stringer mounting clips. Note, that if it were any longer, tilting
to clear the stringer clips would not be possible as it would be obstructed
by the bottom of the bench seat forward brace. The small amount of curvature
of the clips is enough to keep the floor board from jumping out when the boat
hits a wave.
This left photo is looking down from through the edge of the driver's seat
with the seat bottom and forward floor section removed. The curved black line
is the steering cable. The floor needs to be supported on all sides to avoid
excessive bending under my weight.
I fastened batten pieces flush with the bottoms of the stringers to support
the sides of the floor. This then sets the height of the floor. Additional pieces
were added to the top of the frame gusset that is between the seats to bring
it level with the sides and to provide an adequate lip for the two floor panels
where they meet in the middle. The forward edge is also supported with a piece
of batten stock glued to the rear side of the frame gusset.
At the right side of the photo, the support for the front of the floor can
be seen. In the left photo, a close-up of the floor supports can be seen. This
is the front corner under the edge of the driver's seat. The brackets are glued
and screwed in place. The joints are also filleted to ensure that no water can
get in and make for easy cleaning.
Making the floor supports used up the last of my left-over batten stock from
building the hull.
Sizing of floor boards
It is nice to try and make the floor boards fit closely so as not to rattle
and also provide a finished appearance. You must remember to allow for epoxy
coating of the stringers, brackets and floor boards. This means that on the
un-coated pieces that you should allow 3/16- 1/4" (4-6 mm) of clearance.
Otherwise, once every thing is coated, the floor boards won't fit back into
place or will scratch nearby surfaces on the way in.
Colors
Try to keep the floor colors light as the floor will get quite hot in the summer
sun. As you can see, the front floor boards are lighter than the rear. There
is easily a 20 degree difference in surface temperature between them on a hot
summer day - very noticeable on bare feet. Replacing the rear floor board is
on the "long term improvements list".
Our seats are a burgundy red. We think they are quite attractive, but also
get quite hot in the sun as well. You my want to consider a lighter color for
that reason. I now understand why most of the commercially made boat seats are
white or off-white colored.
Many folks paint the bilge, but I do like the natural wood color, and left
it unpainted. Unfortunately, constant submersion and varnish are not very compatible.
So, if you intend to keep your boat in the water, the only real choice is to
paint. This decision should be made prior to engine installation as once it
and other hardware is in place, large areas become quite inaccessible and hard
to paint neatly.
Moaning Chair
Overall, fitting out the interior is the part of the project which presents
the one of the greatest opportunities for creativity and uniqueness for the
boat builder. The myriad choices may seem daunting at first, but by testing,
making mock-ups of interior components and just plain sitting in the cockpit
areas for a while, the choices do get narrowed down. In a number of Wooden Boat
articles there is mention of the boat shop "Moaning Chair" used for
contemplation of the next phase of the project or while searching for the solution
or fix to a new mistake (yes, we all make them). Why not have it be one of the
test seats in the cockpit of your newly flipped hull for a while?
Last Modified 2/1/03 Copyright ©2003 Mark Bronkalla
