Al,

Beautiful boat – perfect blend of art and function. I’ve coveted a Mariner Elan for the last year or so but it’s just not in the budget. I am however building a stitch and glue boat and want to install several Mariner inspired custom features. To that end a couple of questions about your boat:

How do the forward bungies attach? Do they simply lead through holes in the deck and tie off or is there a more elegant secret?

How does the aft deck layout work with paddle float rescues? The Mariner web site describes the process but I must admit I don’t entirely understand the description.

The integral rudder is an interesting feature of the Mariner boats. Given you experience so far, do you think it would be practical to try installing something similar on a hard-chained boat?

I have about a zillion more detailed questions but don't want to take advantage of your generousity. Thanks very much for sharing your boat and experience with us.

Greg Jones
Columbia, MD

I’m building an LT 17 kit and am thinking about lowering the foredeck to better fit my 5’ 7” (size 8 shoe) frame. The standard inside height is around 12” and I want to make it 10.5” by making my own larger radius deck beam.

I’m also thinking about using a very flat radius (say 16”) in the far forward portion of the hull and transitioning to whatever radius I need to achieve 10.5” just forward the cockpit. This flatter forward section would allow me to fit a VCP hatch on the foredeck. It would also give the boat more of a traditional Greenland-style look like the beautiful Sparrow Hawk boats designed by Mark Rodgers and manufactured under license by Wilderness Systems.

Several questions come to mind:

1. If anyone has tried lowering their foredeck before is there a “gotcha” somewhere that I’m not thinking about?

What do you folks think about building with a deck radius that changes from the bow to the cockpit area?

Any and all thoughts are greatly appreciated.

- Greg