How could I fasten a piece of plywood over my open bow?

Wingless aka FredM aka Armnius is a troll. He gets off on peeps trying to validate his preposterous assertions. Stop feeding the troll and ignore these bait threads.
 
Wingless aka FredM aka Armnius is a troll. He gets off on peeps trying to validate his preposterous assertions. Stop feeding the troll and ignore these bait threads.

You think so? The guy is spending real money on some of these hair brained projects. I find both his project resume as well as his approach (never accept challenges or logic) to be quite entertaining.
 
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I’m sure Gary is just chomping at the bit waiting to get into this one.
 
I'm thinking if he mounts the cover on a hinge and adds a kick-stand, he can stand it up and use it as a sail!!
 
So can you remove this on water? Seems like getting to your anchor well would be a pain. If so just make sure you pull your anchor lines in before reinstalling. It would suck to cut them with the prop...
cainemutiny.jpg


View attachment 95375 This is a progress report. Used 2 sheets of 3/8" MDO plywood. Attachment points are the snap retention holes using same pitch #8 stainless screws. Clearance holes are loose enough that I can finger twist as I don't want to damage threads. The 9 snaps in front were flat and I got good imprints whacking the plywood and will drill after I remove the wood for final trimming, finish work, painting and storage. Fender washers will be added in front and at other points where the screws are perpendicular. The upper wood will be drilled after the underlying screws are removed. A 33" leg of 4x4 treated fence post fits under the center of the overlap retained by 4 long deck screws through both sheets. Will add another supporting leg forward of that. The brackets beneath the windshield are aluminum angle from Lowes. Plywood edges will be filled and sealed with paintable, siliconized, latex caulk. Add a couple coats of oil paint from Sherwin-Williams and then I store it under my home's deck against the unlikely event I venture into blue water with my lake boat. I read "The Perfect Storm." There might be 30 sq. ft. of area and water weighs 64.5 lbs per cubic foot. The weakest point would fail first. However, pleasant ideas (like Sucia) have a will of their own and it is better to be prepared.

The biggest challenge here was fastening the cover below the windshield. I used the 3 snap holes and a pair of 1.5" aluminum angles bolted to one another with short embedded carriage bolts. The lower angle was increased to 100 degrees by clamping in the shop vise around a piece of 2" conduit.





View attachment 95063 View attachment 95064 View attachment 95065
 
So can you remove this on water? Seems like getting to your anchor well would be a pain. If so just make sure you pull your anchor lines in before reinstalling. It would suck to cut them with the prop...
cainemutiny.jpg
WOW, what nostalgia!

I didn't know that the African Queen and My Three sons ever acted together.
 
This cover is not removable after launching. Having beached the boat, I could retrieve the bow anchor and tie it to something sturdy. I carry a 4' chunk of rebar, looped at one end and sharpened at the other. Maybe the plywood deck could be a landing platform for an anchor line drone. Boats don't last forever and you don't get value out of them at the end so you might as well use them hard. Gave my last boat to my brother on the other coast. This Columbia Law grad finally admitted he is incapable of maintaining it which is satisfying in its own way.
 
Boats don't last forever and you don't get value out of them at the end so you might as well use them hard.
I buy my boats new, maintain them meticulously and always garage keep them. They get run hard, but never put away wet.

My last boat was 35 years old when we sold her. The capital cost investment turned out to be less than $180 / year. The selling price was about 4x above blue book. I consider that not too shabby of an investment. Because of the care, the maintenance costs were pretty low as well.

The new owner is tickled pink that he got a boat that looks like new and performs flawlessly. To him, that boat had quite a bit of "value".
 
This cover is not removable after launching. Having beached the boat, I could retrieve the bow anchor and tie it to something sturdy. I carry a 4' chunk of rebar, looped at one end and sharpened at the other. Maybe the plywood deck could be a landing platform for an anchor line drone. Boats don't last forever and you don't get value out of them at the end so you might as well use them hard. Gave my last boat to my brother on the other coast. This Columbia Law grad finally admitted he is incapable of maintaining it which is satisfying in its own way.

You could mount your “On-Star” antenna on the center where the boards meet. Wire it to an altimeter so it’ll send an automatic SOS call once the bow goes under. That way the coast guard will have the GPS coordinates of where to start looking for you.
 
You could mount your “On-Star” antenna on the center where the boards meet. Wire it to an altimeter so it’ll send an automatic SOS call once the bow goes under. That way the coast guard will have the GPS coordinates of where to start looking for you.
Cell based systems don't work on the high seas. I was planning on installing a pipe flange over the overlap and the fence post leg with 4" deck screws. I could screw in a radar reflector if I had to motor home in the fog or wanted to impress the tribes with my hood ornament.
IMG_0566[1].JPG
 
Cell based systems don't work on the high seas. I was planning on installing a pipe flange over the overlap and the fence post leg with 4" deck screws. I could screw in a radar reflector if I had to motor home in the fog or wanted to impress the tribes with my hood ornament.View attachment 95874
You complained about having OnStar. So, if your wife had an accident you would not want her to press the button because it would be an invasion of your privacy.

So, why would you deliberately want your boat to become visible?
 
You complained about having OnStar. So, if your wife had an accident you would not want her to press the button because it would be an invasion of your privacy.

So, why would you deliberately want your boat to become visible?
Have to cross shipping lanes twice to return from Sucia. Large freighters and containerships only have one screw and change course or stop very slowly. They will sound their horns if they see something in front of them.
Going slowly, semi-planing, about the only metallic, radar reflecting portion of my boat significantly above the water line is the windshield frame. You'd have to put it on the stealth pylon down at Area 51 to find out what sort of signature it would have, who knows. I think having a radar reflector stowed alongside the engine to be screwed into the already mounted flange on the high riding bow is good cheap planning. Fleeing is not an option in the fog.

In the "Hollywood" movie suppose Brad Pitt had a 911 button on his dash and Squeaky put her finger on it and insisted upon her proposal upon threat of telling the cops they already had. Pitt would have become one of Manson's homicidal zombies.
 
Wooden panels, galvanized pipe and sharp edged sheet metal. Yup, I changed my mind.

Boats have no value.
 
Have to cross shipping lanes twice to return from Sucia. Large freighters and containerships only have one screw and change course or stop very slowly. They will sound their horns if they see something in front of them.
Going slowly, semi-planing, about the only metallic, radar reflecting portion of my boat significantly above the water line is the windshield frame. You'd have to put it on the stealth pylon down at Area 51 to find out what sort of signature it would have, who knows. I think having a radar reflector stowed alongside the engine to be screwed into the already mounted flange on the high riding bow is good cheap planning. Fleeing is not an option in the fog.

In the "Hollywood" movie suppose Brad Pitt had a 911 button on his dash and Squeaky put her finger on it and insisted upon her proposal upon threat of telling the cops they already had. Pitt would have become one of Manson's homicidal zombies.
I’d invest in a good radio with AIS and a larger boat.
 
A cluster of gentle and festive sliver metallicized helium birthday balloons inflated with a small tank, tethered with kite string, deployed as necessary, should have a substantial radar signature without offensive sharp edges.
 

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