here - Polynesian Catamaran Association

.:!'t m o dlfica eion24 inches long (pic 13).Itis enough tostand in com fortably and providesan extrameasureofsafety'sinceitis2linchesdeep .This puts the sides at about knee high., Therearehandleson eithersideofthepilotstation to which the pilotcan lash him selfifnecessaryforextrasectlrity.The pilotpithasaeoverso thattheentirecockpitarea becomesa tlatsurface (pic14).The fullcockpitareaisbig enough tohold a k'ing size intlatable airmattress tbroutside sleeping.The pit's cover lit-ts offand can bem otlnted onto apostthatisslidinto asocketin thebotom ofthe 'pit'(pic15).Thism akesthepitcoverplateasmalltable.Two peoplecanenjoy eating atthistable in the evening since their legs arehanging into the pit.The table is also anexcellent place to put a G PS or foldedcharts while sailing.Of cotlrse , since theW harram isso stable,drinksalso rem aininplace w'hile sailing! An im portantconsideration!For comfort or steering one can sit oneithersideofthepit,using standard foldinglawn chairs (pic 16).Head clearance issufticientfora 6'4'adult.Steering isdoneeasily while seated to the sideorthe lawnchaircan repositioned (afterptltting thepitplate in plaee)to directly behind thewheelforcentered steering controland com pletevisibilitl'(pic 17).Allpositions are veryeom fortableformostsailingconditions.Ofcourse,standing in the pitgives fullvisibility to all sides. Two sm all plasticone-step pl% tic stools are available.Thelegshave been cutto differentheightsandeach jitssnugly intothe 'pitp'.Thispennitspeopleofvarying heightstohavecolnpleteand perfectvision whilesteering.The goalofbeing able to properly controlthewheelfbrany person from 5'2'to 6'4'was metwith these inexpensive stools thatexactlypress fit into the pit. A ll thesem eastlrem ents W'el'e detel-m ined Prior tocutting the cockpit so that everythingvs'ould have nearly zero tolerance andtheretbreensuresnug tsts.could star't.M easure twice,cutOnce . .. orsin my case,meastlre nlany.n'lanys 11a1)'times,cutonce!That,plus the realizationthatIw'asn'tcutting any seriotls strtlcturalm embersand also thatwood with epoxy isvery easily fixed Idove in.The bracing Iincluded in thedesign forthepitwasequalto,ifnotstronger-than the originalfloor .M y decision was to leave the deek alonetlnder the storage boxes. fitting onl'separators (used strtlcttlrally), and thenonly eutoutthe bottom of the new . quitesm all,pit area.Doing this decreased theunderdeck clearance in a very sm allarea(thedimensionofthepitthatmighteverhitawave isvery small)and itdidn'trequiremoving any ofthesteering gear . An)'othersoltltion would have added substantialweight,substantialcomplexity and IknowIwould havetilledtlpthelargerboxes!!Then Ibuilta box from m arine pl)'thatwould slide tightly into the existing pit .Leaving an overlap ofabout4 inches forepoxy and boltsthis 'pitextension'added8 inchesto thedepthoftheexistingcockpitin thatarea.Thatwasa smalprieeto payin loss of tlnder deck clearance in thatsm all location for m uch greaterfunctionality in tlw cockpit.The depth isless than the depth of the two outboardmotor sleds w'hen they are in the tlpposition.Extending below the pitis a 1'Piece of alum initlm pipe for another 5'. .This unitis the pole holder thatstlpportsthe pit cover plate when it is used as :1table.The pit extension and the l'pipeproduce virtually zero drag even in l'leaN'l'Seas.This m odification has served m e veo'well.ltmeetsallmy criteriaandmakestheform er cockpit m ore useftll andcomfortable formy pup oses.Ofcourse.ifyou like to entertain a lotol-people,preferto situprightorhaveotherm eansofaddingfueland satkty equipmentstoragethenthischange would notbe stlitable tbrl'otl.W'eaIlhavedift-erentneeds.Ihavestatedm ineand thiswasmy soltltion.The seaPeople38 lssue74 * @How was al1 this accom plished'?. First,afterdesigning ita1lIhad to getovermyfearoftaking a powersaw to the existingdeck of m y new boat! Reviewing mydrawingsand measurem entsoverand overlinally redtlced 11),'fearsto a pointwhereI