I did a bunch of practical but not pretty interior upgrades that are not really anything new so im not going into that.
The projects in the pictures below were done in a functional but very cheap way because I'm a contractor and business has been pretty slow and also because I have a lot of ideas of things I want to do and I dont want to spend years doing them all.
the first project was a bimini made from a random discounted frame that was missing parts. I knew I would need to customize it anyway so I bought it for the hardware and bends. The fabric is a polyester tarp material pulled tite around the frame and secured with self tappers and then the excess cutoff. total investment $40 I should note that the red dye is fading much faster than a marine fabric so I may be buying some sunbrella in the future
project two was a new motor mount so the xtra longshaft motor could clear the water. This honda has a 27" shaft. I bought the heaviest and highest lifting motor mount I could find from boaters world when it was going out of business 50% off. I modified the notched bracket which guides the motor and limits how much range it can travel through in order to increase the range. this was my biggest purchase at almost $300 with discount. It has such heavy springs that you have to lean on the motor to get it to go down.
project three was a super long outboard tiller extension making the outboard my lowspeed tiller for docking. I find my existing rudder to be usless at docking speeds. This steerable outboard tiller has made docking singlehanded much more controlled. $0
project four was a plywood panel to replace the lowest hatchboard which included drink holders and gear holders. no more spilled drinks in the cockpit. $15
project five was a security screen hatch because I like to leave the boat open on hot days and one day I returned to the boat to find I had been visited by a thief. The new security screen was about $40 in material and a day of welding. very sturdy and I have mounted a box fan on it.
My latest project was a hard dodger with removable plexiglass windows and 45watts of solar panel on the top off it. I bought the three 15watt solar panels at harbour frieght for $200 and that motivated me to do the rest of the project. the plexi was $65 and the metal for the frame was about $45. I welded the frame out of angle iron but everything else is installed with wingnuts so that it can be dissassamble by hand in a hurry.
Also I when I did the extension to the outboard tiller I used the old tiller and bought a new longer tiller for the main rudder that I can reach while sitting under the new dodger.
