HAINES HUNTER PROJECT BOAT (PT 5): A 445R runabout conversion to a centre console

In Part 5 of the Haines Hunter 445R conversion to a centre console, the structural transformation is completed ahead of the fit-out and rigging. The deck is finished, the hull is repaired and faired, the fuel tank is in place, the floor is ‘glassed in place, and the centre console is shaped and fitted.

Finally, my pocket rocket has graduated through the ‘hump’ stage of the build process and has been given a new lease of life. It’s all down sea from here.

As you can see, the project boat is looking like a serious little centre console with improved freeboard and fishability. I can't wait to get it wet.

There were five things that stood out from this labour-intensive stage of the rebuild process.

1. Time to fair and shape the top deck – as this was a new top deck and the transom was totally customised this took considerable time to get right. Sanding surfaces and preparing for finishes is time consuming.
2. Proceed with care — to ensure the build and layout would deliver the functionality required, don’t rush something and think ahead.
3. Resin and flow coating — this included all the hidden obscure surfaces to seal and ensure protection from moisture.
4. Test the plumbing and cable runs — this was necessary to ensure the bends for cable and wiring worked before we glassed in the floor.  
5. Take lots of photos — so you know where the important sections are under the floor for future reference should you need to make changes later.

FILL AND FAIR
Once the deck construction was completed it was removed from the boat, which was then flipped over. All the areas of the hull needing repair were sanded and filled with a mix of gelcoat and talc.

Once the hull was filled and faired, a gelcoat colour was mixed to match the existing hull colour. Following this, the gelcoat was sprayed onto the hull and, once dry, it was wet-rubbed and buffed. Then the hull was then finished in gelcoat.

Thankfully, the old section of the hull was in good shape and didn’t require a lot of work. The new extension area required the most labour.

FUEL TANK, FLOOR, FOAM AND SIDE POCKETS
Once the fuel tank arrived, it was sanded and acid washed before being wrapped in fiberglass. The fuel tank was then fitted into the space assigned to it and fibreglassed into place.

A mix of resin and glue powder was used to make up a thick glue to attach the floor onto the new stringers that had been previously glassed in. Each stringer was screeded with the glue mix before the floor was fitted and screwed down.

Once the floor was glued and screwed into place the rest of the glue mix was applied to run a cove around the floor-hull join. The floor and coves were then sanded and the floor was fibreglassed in.

We opted to foam fill the hull, which was not initially in the plan. While the deck of the boat is completely sealed, and a foam pad was already in the keel section, holes were drilled in between the sections of stringers and the foam injected in the gaps and then filled and glassed over.

The foam will deaden the noise of the hull and also provide added safety if ever the boat was to fill with water at sea — it won’t sink. This is pretty important: unlike driving a car, if something goes wrong you just can’t get out and walk away!

To install the side pockets, the desired length of plywood was measured up and cut to length, then scribed into the shape of the hull sides. They were then fitted and fibreglassed into place. Resin and flowcoat were applied.

The top deck was fitted back on top of the hull and fibreglassed into place, then the entire inside of the boat was then sanded and washed down with acetone. The colour of the flowcoat was Seagull grey. Two coats were brushed on throughout the entire floor and hull sides of the boat into all the joins and gaps.

The top sides were masked up for protection, as were the interior aspects of the boat (such as the console). For separation, black-and-white ‘splatter’ was then applied to the floor and internal areas of the hull.

MAKING THE CENTRE CONSOLE
The centre console is made out of plywood. My brother knocked it up, we measured it by carefully referencing the casting deck and internal lay out of the boat. Plywood was purchased and cut up into panels and joined with screws to reflect a mould of the end product.

The height and profile of the console was important to get right as well as ensuring the provisioning of the surface area set up to accommodate the electronics, GPS, radios, switches, steering wheel and control box.

All of these functionality requirements were underpinned by the PVC pipes running under the floor from the back of the hull deck and resurfacing under the protection of the console itself.

By making the console first and slotting it onto the floor we got to see its height and width profile to gauge how it would integrate and see if it looked out of place.
?At this stage, we decided to rebate the forward-facing section of the console over the casting deck edge by some 50mm. This would maximise space and also redistribute the weight of the driver and crew when underway.

The console was handed over to the shipwright, Leonti, who pulled it apart and then glued it back together and fibreglassed it. The rebate was cut in and put in place, then the console was glassed into the floor of the boat. The console was filled and faired until smooth and then sprayed with two-pack marine paint.     

The twin batteries would be housed inside the console on the floor (each on a raised pad), so care was taken to ensure ease of access so they could be serviced and there was room for installation of a battery switch.

It was decided to split the console in half, top and bottom, with the batteries on the floor and a shelf separating the top and bottom sections (400mm each section). This would allow for some dry storage away out of the weather via two waterproof hatches.

The console measured just over 1250mm at its highest point, 750mm wide and 575mm deep, with a forward face that was 450mm high. The dash base was angled to mount the steering wheel and control box, which I anticipated would be just the right height assuming a driving position at 800mm plus the steering wheel wedge.

FINISHING THE TOP DECK
Finishing the top deck involved wet rubbing and then a cut-and-polish process until it became shiny and smooth and free from blemishes. This was time consuming, as it was a new top deck built from scratch.

Three more holes were cut out for the top-deck hatches for each of the live wells and the edges were sealed with resin then flowcoated. The underside of the hatches openings were also sealed with Sikaflex to further prevent water ingress.

A mould was made for the anchor-well hatch, which would be hinged once the anchor winch placement was sorted out.

The gunwale rubber was the last aspect to be completed before collecting the boat. It didn’t quite resemble the finished product as we had hoped at this point, but the clock was ticking and the boat needed to return to Melbourne to get the hull wrap, the fit up and the rigging underway.