Ok, I THINK I know what I want to do with the skiff. I'm still waiting to find out how much structural integrity the storage boxes have, but hopefully little or none. If they are a structural element, I'll probably put some aluminum ribs across the deck and up the gunnel, and then either recess them into the gunnels, or fiberglass over em or just paint over em. Hopefully I won't need to worry about it, if the boxes aren't a key element. Ed suggested that I think of something different to maximize fishing space. That was a tough one, but I think I came up with something. We'll be fishing plastic (or bounce ball) most of the time so bait is not much of a concern, BUT I do want to have a bait tank to fish live squid, and flyline dines at naples, and that kind of stuff. So, my original thought was to have a removable bait tank. That means that it'd probably have to go in front of the center console, and be attached to the deck somehow. Maybe one of them trash can lookin ones cause they've got a base you can install on the deck that they twist onto. But, if I did that the base would be on the deck and in the way for 90% of the trips that we don't fish bait. Also, I don't know how stable that would be, and in a flat bottom boat, that's another issue. The center of gravity is also higher than I want it to be in that style of bait tank. So, a solution I can think of is to put a permanent bait tank, underneath the console. It will stick out the front of the console a few inches, maybe a foot or so, and be flush with the back so that my legs aren't hitting it when I'm driving the boat. There'll be a gap between the back wall of the console and top of the bait tank so we can reach in and get bait, and the front will probably get glassed to the console and the deck for added stability and stuff. It will also be bolted to the deck. This way I can get a low profile bait tank with a low center of gravity, plus it ain't gonna move (another problem with putting a tank with a high CG under the console is that if it decides to tip over, it'll take out the console), and it's out of the way while creating an extra seat/tackle box storage area on top of it, in front of the console. So, it would take up more space than a removable tank, but it would also be safer and less sketchy (we want to minimize the sketchy factor). Another plus is that for the 90% that we don't use bait, it can be used for storage. So, all the weight of the console and the bait tank will be in the middle of the boat, right where it should be, instead of juggling around a console and a bait tank to get em as close to the middle as possible. This way it kills like 5 birds with 1 stone. (weight placement, space, storage, safety, seating, hey that was 5, pretty good guess...)
-Brian