If you'd be comfortable with it, I'd be curious to know what work done by the various contractors. What needed to be modified to create the boat you're happy with?
Okay, and I will try to be concise!
What needed to be modified. Well, we had six main issues. I will break this up into six separate posts to describe each one.
Our marine surveyor spent two days surveying the boat before we made our final payment. During our surveyor's first day, both he and Dan noted that the latest hull under construction, either hull #5 or #6, had a cockpit floor that was 3 inches higher than our boat's. This was a hint that something was off.
Two days later during our lake trial of the boat, we observed that the cockpit sole and fold-down gate on the stern were slightly below the water line, meaning the cockpit was permanently awash, even when underway. (See photos 1-2 below from the lake trial.)
The fold-down gate had 1/3-inch openings on all three sides and when the outboards were in reverse, water poured into the cockpit from all three sides.
After some counterproductive discussions, we brought the boat home from Gainesville to St. Petersburg. We still loved her unique design and shallow draft, but we were exhausted and frustrated after waiting two long years for the build to be finished.
We decided that rather than hassle further with the extremely slow & quixotic builder that we would get her fixed up ourselves.
We consulted with a naval architect and took the boat to American Boat Works (ABW), the marvelous fiberglass shop that I referenced in my first post. ABW cut out the existing cockpit floor, built a new cockpit floor, and fiberglassed it in 3 inches higher than the original floor, as we had noted in hull #5 or 6. (See photos 3-8 below from the ABW shop.)
Paul and Kevin of ABW then built us the new closed stern with a swim platform instead of the original fold-down gate. They installed two nifty brass scuppers in the cockpit deck so rainwater can drain. (See photos 9-10 below, which are BEFORE and AFTER photos of the stern.)
These new scuppers work quite well. I did not take a photo of the scuppers prior to installation; I wish I had because they work beautifully.
Incidentally, I have just learned from another new TT35 owner that GH has now decided to eliminate the fold-down gate on future TT35’s and instead build a closed stern with swim platform very similar to ours. We think this is sensible because, in our opinion, the original fold-down gate design with the cockpit sole raised 3 inches was still susceptible to water intrusion with the outboards in reverse gear.
Up next when I have an hour or so to find more photos, will be the issues with the gas tanks…
the wonderful job done by Monopoli Marine in Tarpon Springs. Pete and his son Peter built the flybridge railings. It was not a simple job because of the pitch of the upper deck, and yet just like all of our other local craftsmen they were an absolute joy to work with.
