Naughty, naughty, Hunter Marine!

These two photos clearly indicate the level of quality control at Hunter in the early 1970s.  The one at right is of the lift-out panel for the center compartment under the vee berth.  The one at the bottom is of the after one (under which is the holding tank).  Looking closely you will see my notes in Sharpie pen about how to adapt these for use as templates when I cut out new panels.  Each is easily 1/4" too small for its space.  This matters when the fiddle below it is only 3/4" wide.  A little bending from weight centered upon the 3/8"-plywood panel could easily bow it enough to break it, especially since it is 37 years old.

Also, these panels are much too large to do without reinforcements underneath.  When I make the new ones I will apply white-pine sticks, 3/4" square, to the undersides using epoxy.  Like ultralight-airplane wing ribs, the size won't matter as much as the fact that they're there and adequately secured so as to be structural.

By the way, when I designed interiors at Cherubini I always specified 3/4" plywood for bunktops, especially doubles.  Even so these still require some honeycombing of bulkheads underneath to lend stiffness and strength.  I would consider reducing this thickness and weight to 1/2"  so long as the bulkheads below were well secured, well treated in epoxy and numerous enough to lend the required rigidity.  I would never use 3/8" for a bunktop under any circumstances-- unless those circumstances were that the 3/8" was already installed on my antique boat!

I simply cannot wait to paint this area; but there are lockers and stuff to install here.  This was the space in which I stored raw lumber during the rest of the project and it's only become clear again recently.