something like Interlux �Interthane� at $50 per gallon. Some builder�s supply stores sell two-part epoxy concrete paint, supposedly for garage floors. You can use the aforementioned paints on the hull topsides and bottom too, or you might use a good exterior gloss latex. Latex stands up surprisingly well, even underwater. Oil-based or enamel paints are useless on exterior surfaces.
Leaks
Leaks are miserable destructive things, hard to find, harder to fix. With the hull and decks completely glassed, there�s no excuse for the hull to leak ever. You want to glass the roof right down over the facia and the end beams for the same reason. And bed any attachments to the decks and roof generously with Poly Seam Seal. Goober up the screws generously too, before you drive them.
Hatches always leak, no matter how you make them or how much you pay for them. So don�t put any hatches in the roof above the cabin, and don�t put hatches in the lower decks. If you want a hatch to get topside, then put it over the fore or aft deck. The simple hatch detailed in the drawings will leak less often than most. You�ll want to get below the cabin sole of course, and hatches inside the cabin need be little more than a piece of plywood. You can reach up under the decks from hatches inside the cabin.
Don�t forget the drip groove in the facias. And buy windows with a flange and bed under that too. Did I mention I hate leaks?
Windows
I like aluminum windows, horizontal sliders if they�re to open. The black anodized frames look sharp. As mentioned above, the household type with a flange works well. The glass should be at least tempered. Laminated safety glass is the best of course, but wouldn�t that be overkill for a riverboat? New windows are expensive, but old ones are prone to leaks. You can likely frame in simple panes and come up with fixed windows that don�t leak, especially under the overhangs on the end walls and in the doors. But you�re not likely to be happy with home-made opening windows for the cabin sides.
Doors
New custom doors are expensive. The plans show how to make doors that won�t get loose and come apart, without having all the machine tools normally used. The trick is to use a single piece of 3/4� plywood, cut out the window opening, and then apply trim pieces with finish nails and glue. A bit of filler around the edges, a little caulking, some sanding and paint, and you�re done.
Tanks
I wouldn�t put a fuel tank down there, but there�s room in the hull for lots of water tanks - black water, fresh water, gray water, firewater, and all kinds of pumps, hoses, wires and switches. If you�ve got the money and the patience, go ahead. Just make sure your hatches are big enough to get them in and out. Metal tanks leak. Plastic tanks are better. I�m a bucket and jug man, myself. Life is too short for tanks and plumbing and pumps.
Bilge Pumps
Do some thinking on whether you want limber holes through the longitudinals and one bilge pump, or three hull compartments and three pumps. Or maybe you want to glass in 1/2� ply dividers around amidships somewhere, to make 6 separate hull compartments. That way if you hole one, she would still stay afloat.
Know what I think I�d do? I�d make 6 compartments and have hatches enough to check them all, maybe cover two or four compartments with one hatch. That way, when I hauled her, I could open the hatches to air out the hull. I�d carry a manual bilge pump to stick into a compartment if needed. And I�d carry a pre-nailed plywood patch and a squeeze tube of some sort of goop.
In any case, if you don�t sneeze from the bilge dust, there�s a problem somewhere. Lisa B�s bilges should always be right dry.
Tools
I don�t know how handy you are with tools. But if you�re not handy now, you will be when you�re done, especially with that Skilsaw and the angle sander. You won�t need many tools to build �Lisa B. Good�. Let�s see here:
- Carpenter�s square
- C-Clamps and bar clamps
- Miter box
- Cross cut hand saw
- Rotary power hand saw (Skilsaw) with carbide combination blade and plywood blade
- Sabre Saw (Hand Jig Saw)
- Level
- 25 foot measuring tape
- Battery operated drill, 9.6 volt or higher.
(Makita makes drills with good keyless chucks and good battery systems.)
- Twist drill set
on to page 8 for the final construction notes....