I bought some padded hull liner material at Sailrite, and glued it to the overhead, bulkheads, and the side of the hull. I haven't gotten the trim in yet, so it still looks a little kludgy, but it will eventually give the cuddy a more "finished" look. The main reason is to defeat condensation in the interior. Sleep in pocket cruisers this size during cool weather and you can wake up to a shower of condensation from the overhead. My Montgomery 15 acquired insulation made out of old mattress covers. This liner material is a bit nicer.
Mainly I wanted to get the electrical panel in, so I'd have running lights and a stereo. I have to have music on my boats---I've gotten so used to it that I can't bear to go without. So I built in a handsome Jensen unit and four speakers.
Here's the panel, a bit of varnished plywood fastened to the port side of the forward bulkhead. On the left is the stereo control panel and two "cigarette lighter" plugs. One for a 12v fan, and an extra for recharging the iPod or whatever. The switchboard is a lovely unit made by Blue Seas. It's got five fused switches and gauges for amps and volts. The ugly red knob is a "battery switch," which isolates the battery from the panel. I consider that an indispensable safety feature, even if it's not very pretty. Fastened to the center of the bulkhead is a blue mesh bag I picked up at West Marine. It holds the iPod and a handhelf VHF radio.
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The panel is hinged at the bottom, so I remove two screws to access the back of the panel.
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For interior lights, I found some inexpensive LEDs, which I mounted on the upper left and right sides. They aren't especially bright, but the power draw is maybe half an amp or less.
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I put a set of red LED lights on a separate switch. A bit posh, but honestly I've done a lot of night sailing, and it's great to be able to duck down into the cuddy to find a sweater without ruining your night vision. My Folkboat had this feature and it was great.
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The front speakers (KLH's from Radio Shack---excellent sound and very durable, even in the damp) are mounted in the forward storage compartment. The amp for the stereo is on the left.
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The rear speakers are mounted to the front of the footwell. Need to fasten that wire up out of the way before gear catches on it. Boats enjoy the same advantages as cars for audiophile listening---lots of surfaces to diffuse the sound. Give me a nasty Northeaster and I'll give you a lovely day at anchor reading books, listening to music, and sipping hot tea. Of course, a cheap old boombox will get you there with a lot less effort.
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The battery lives in a box where it's shown on the plans. If I'd had the time, I'd have built a platform in there from the start. I notice I bought the same box from West Marine that Jeff did. Mine is strapped tightly to sturdy eyestraps on the bulkhead. It hasn't budged either in bumpy trailering or in bumpy head seas.
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I've only got two of the three running lights installed---the port and starboard lights. They're fastened to the outsides of the Dorade boxes. I bought some clever watertight through-deck plugs to run the wires into the interior from the Dorades. The white stern light will require some fooling around with the "transom skirt."
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Keeping the 12-volt battery charged up is a 10-watt solar panel fastened to the top of the companionway hood. Another one of those through-deck plugs connects it to the battery through the Dorade box.
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