After removing the engine, we were left with a huge open space under the cockpit. No longer needing to access machinery, we are able partition the space into lockers for added structure and watertight integrity.
To start, we built a center locker, a box compartment, around the old engine space to house three group 31 batteries.
We left the engine bed in place for structure. It also provided a good frame for attaching bulkheads.
After we built the inboard center locker, we divided the outboard area into port, starboard, and aft lockers. We changed one big “U” shape into three sections with two watertight dividers. Each section is still large enough to crawl into. So, we have complete access to all usable space. The port and starboard lockers house the boat’s only thru hulls, the two cockpit drain seacocks. These lockers will now contain potential flooding to smaller spaces. We installed the port and starboard dividers to add structure to the hull and cockpit. The final piece we added was a triangle shape that was fiberglassed over the aft bilge. This seals off the aft third of the boat from flooding the cabin.
sailing dawn treader 