I wanted to make an area in the front of the boat for my daughter, Lila. My idea was to make it somewhat padded. She trips over her own feet, so with the swaying of the boat I'm sure she will end up falling in it. Every surface is hard and/or sharp. I don't want her getting hurt and becoming afraid of the boat.
I had lots of ideas. I looked at upholstering the seats and hull, but that would have been impractical and expensive. I thought about taking pipe insulation and lining the gunwales. Still might do this.
What I decided on was covering the seats and sides of the hull with life preservers. This is simple, cheap and multipurpose.
I attached the life preservers with bungee cords. To attach the bungee cords to the boat I screwed plastic conduit brackets to the boat. These are light, strong, and will not corrode.
One of the most trippable things in a boat is the net. I glued a sink drain pipe to one of the seats. The net slides in and rests agaist the side of the boat. It is easily accessable and out of the way.
I still need to pad the front bench, it has a sharp edge. But asside from that I believe it is much safer than before.
