[AllThumbs]

The drains around the cockpit seats didn't. Why? because the "front" of the drain was actually higher than the back. It's an illusion, because the front was actually deeper than the back, but with the seat sloping towards the back, the rain water pooled in the trough at the rear of the seat and filled the locker, or in the case of the locker lid on the other side of the boat, the bilge. After living with it since I owned the boat, I finally fixed it:

 

[AllThumbs]

Another of several design oversights. My boat has a funny L shaped hatch forward of the mast. Look at the hump designed to keep water out. It relies on the gasket on the hatch to keep the water flowing off the cabin top from dripping inside. Needless to say this only worked inside the sales room floor in 1973. I added some sheet glass to form a gutter that diverts the water to the sides. No more drips on the V berth cushions! (other than myself).

 

[capta]

But you see, it's a boat, not a house, and it rocks and rolls. You are still thinking like a landlubber. The water can't pool and overflow into the locker or engine room, because the rocking of the boat will displace it. So wherever that water was coming from, it surely wasn't from those seats.

 

[deltaten]

nice work. good thinking. excellent execution

 

[AllThumbs]

But you see, it's a boat, not a house, and it rocks and rolls. You are still thinking like a landlubber. The water can't pool and overflow into the locker or engine room, because the rocking of the boat will displace it. So wherever that water was coming from, it surely wasn't from those seats.

It was from the seats. Trust me.

 

[Capt Len]

Nicely done. I prefer to work in wood but it appears that FG has some potential .It may catch on.

 

[SVTatia]

You have done great work to correct these problems, hats off to you, but I must correct...

These are not necessarily design flaws, the builders could be at fault.
My boat was designed with an entirely different cabin top, but when Ted Brewer, who assisted Bill Luders, saw the final product he almost fell backwards.
It goes to show that builders decide on things that make sense financially, and may not make any sense at all from a practical or aesthetic standpoint.

 

[capta]

It was from the seats. Trust me.

All thumbs, and no sense of humor?

 

[AllThumbs]

You have done great work to correct these problems, hats off to you, but I must correct...

These are not necessarily design flaws, the builders could be at fault.
My boat was designed with an entirely different cabin top, but when Ted Brewer, who assisted Bill Luders, saw the final product he almost fell backwards.
It goes to show that builders decide on things that make sense financially, and may not make any sense at all from a practical or aesthetic standpoint.

Agreed. The seat issue was a flaw/oversight in the building of the mould (plug). The front hatch was probably a cost issue. Neither would be noticed until you brought the boat home and used the boat, and modifying the mould would be expensive.

The factory that built my boat did actually replace the mould at one time with a new one with deeper gutters (along with other fixes), but the new mould was later lost in a fire and they resumed building the boat with the old mould. The result was that the older boats (like mine), and the newest boats had the shallow gutter problem.

 

[DonScribner]

I'm an architectural designer and one thing that I freely admit, and the shop guys have all heard this from me in the most self deprecating way, "it looks good on paper". The fact that they addressed it at all says they were thinking and trying to add a feature that worked. But, sometimes reality does't match up with your ideas.

But, to the real subject. Very nice FG job! Really blends nicely.