Building 17' wide 14' long deck

[SolGato]

I have to agree with some of the others about this possibly being too ambitious of a project to use the Mac for as a foundation, especially if you intend to use it offshore.

Regardless of how much you build out above deck, I think it would be wise to at least lash the deck atop the front and rear cross beams.

Did you get a look at the Conser Warrior that has been passed around islands? It had a center pod with two additional beams that connected the front and rear cross beams that triangulated everything. I think something like that to help keep the boat from twisting that you then set your hard deck on top of and attach to would take some stress off a lightweight hard deck.

The main reason I passed on that Mac is because the hulls really don’t have enough freeboard and volume (especially at the stern) to support a lot of extra weight. I’ve seen a few of them and a few Stiletto conversions with hard decks that squat in the water due to the excessive weight.

I don’t know what your reason is for the cabin, but if it’s just to get out of rain and sun and to be able to camp, have you considered instead building a hard deck and a hard Bimini and then creating a shower curtain like full canvas enclosure hung from the Bimini? That’s what I have done and will do with my bigger solar electric build in order to help keep the boat light.

 

[SolGato]

Aloha. Have you mad any progress on your project?

I think you mentioned in an earlier post that you had sourced some new aluminum cross tubes to increase the beam width.

Is there a supplier here in the islands, or did you have them shipped from the Mainland?

Thanks!

 

[redreuben]

Damian, to build a deck between the hulls and put a cabin on it without support from the crossbeams is a no unless you incorporate stiffeners at least the size of the crossbeams.
And even that will have issues if there is no bury into the hulls.
Without support from the crossbeams fore and aft stiffeners will be next to useless.
What you will end up with is a hard trampoline.