: It is
: complete with the exception of foot braces, a seat and hatch openings.

The seat you can make from minicell foam and secure to the bottom wherever you find the proper balance point to be. If you want the seat in some other place, then you'll have to add ballast to the boat to shift the blanance.

Putting in foot pegs can be accomplished by several methods. You can pick one from the archives, or if you create another way of doing it let us know.

As for hatches. If you are not going to be doing a lot of tripping, then why not install access ports in the bulkheads. You can find plastic ones which are neat, simple to install, and not very expensive. This way your deck stays uncluttered, too.

If you look on page 486 in West Marine's e-catalog, or search for "deck plates"

http://wmarine.mobular.net/wmarine/5/5/2/index.jsp

you'll find these things. One with an 8 inch opening, which is large enough to squeeze a duffel bag through, is about US$24. (plus tax, shipping, etc.)

Or, make your own hatch -- round, oval, or some other shape -- from a piece of plywood. Cut out the center of the bulkhead, leaving at least 2 inches of wood for later fastening your hatch to. You should be able to simply install T nuts ((get stainless steel ones) in what is left of the bulkhead so that you can use thumbscrews installed from the cockpit to hold on the new hatch you've made.

This can give you a significantly larger opening in the bulkhead, which will make it easier to get gear in. Getting gear to the far end, or getting it out are other matters.

Once you have access to the sealed areas behind the bulkheads, try to get a pulley, or even a plain steel ring, mounted at the far end of the boat. A rope through this ring or pulley will allow ou to drag your gear far into the ends of the boat. A rope tied to the other end of the gear lets you retrieve it. A clip on the inside of the compartment, near the bulkhead, holds the ends of these ropes in a convenient place for you.

Hope this helps.

PGJ

pic below is of a Beckson deck plate from the Defender online catalog. The mounting rim is a complete circle although the illustation shows a cross section of the the mounting rim for better clarity. The cover has an "o" ring which seals the thing and makes ti watertight. Beckson makes some of these with clear screw-in covers, allowing you to look in.
(www.defender.com)