Custom Santee Deck

Hey guys I’m new to the site and have a few questions for you experts. I’m preparing a mold for a 4ft wide x 8.5ft long deck. The deck will basically be 4ftwide and 6.5ftlong with compartments moving forward into the remaining 4ft wide x 2.5ft long section of deck that will be solid (no hatches). I plan to glass in either marine ply or coosa to add rigidity to the deck once the mold process is complete. Being as there will be hatches within the deck I plan to have 2 bulkheads running parallel across the boat beneath the deck and one bulkhead which will be the rear of the deck. There will be 2 more bulk heads running from the rear of the deck to the front of the deck at the nose of the boat essentially dividing the 4ft width of the deck into thirds. With all that clear as mud first what product would you recommend using to strengthen the deck, coosa or marine ply or other? Secondly I plan to lay up the mold gelcoat, glass and resin then drop in an 8.5ft x 4ft sheet with hatch openings cut out directly into the mold and glass it in. Any thoughts on bonding the two or other issues that I may be missing. If all goes well I plan to pull the deck with reinforced section glasses in and flip it over then glass into boat. My question here is attaching the deck to the actual bulk heads. I plan to mix a butter to bond the two but do I need to plan on completely glassing all joints where the bulkheads meet the deck or is a good bond using the butter sufficient. I’ve uploaded a quick sketch of the layout. The blue dots are current plans for bulkheads hatch locations are noted within. Thanks in advance for any help given!

 

Are you building two longitudinal boxes with a space in between? Your description seems complicated and overbuilt. Check out some boat decks of those dimensions to get an idea.

 

Thanks for you reply Gonzo. You are absolutely correct in that it’s complicated looking but really it’s not if you’ve worked through it on page after page of design like I have over the last 3yrs. As for looking over other decks I’ve looked at TONS to find one similar to what I have in mind. Think bass boat only smaller. I do have a photo on file of a Ranger bass boat that is nearly an identical layout and a simple to make build. I will repost my design to help you understand what I’m Planning to do and also the photo of the Ranger deck for an actual design look. The amount of “bulkheads” does seem excessive but keep in mind they are more or less simply dividers for the different compartments but strategically laid out to serve as deck support. (They can be minimalistic individually in a sense but all combined should be ideal)....open to any thoughts or criticism. We only as good as the questions we’ve asked over time. I’m confident in this build but the minds that are involved the better the outcome......sometimes! Thanks! Oh remember the blue dotted lines are compartment dividers/bulkheads