Moved back into the tiny studio garage where I built the (much smaller) Desolation. Tight fit. The boat sits on casters and I have to push it back and forth to get from one side of the shop to the other. Making due until I find another space we can afford. Spent a couple weeks tweaking the hatch configurations to where we like them, and they've been roughed in, waiting for finishing and final installation. Lately I've spent an obscene amount of time tinkering with a removable rear bench made of oak, on plywood stanchions which will be filleted to the hull. The bench can pop out to make room for our two dogs in the rear. I don't know if I'd want to ride in the very back. But the bench is going to look neat. Might make a drybox that could drop in as well.
We are likely going to add bilge pumps to the front and rear footwells. They are pretty big buckets, and while I know the tradition is to let the passengers bail so they have something to do besides freak out, bailing can be dangerous believe it or not. I have almost fallen out of the boat trying to exuberantly bail. So I'd rather tell my passengers to hold on, high side, and stay in the boat. I'm putting a SLA battery wired to a switch in the footwell which will control both 1500 GPH pumps. Solar chargers will keep us juiced on longer trips.
