Bob,

This is the kind of question that you need take directly to CLC. This forum is mainly builders helping builders with CLC staff occasionally dropping in. For something like this you'll get a better and more official answer from the CLC staff. Just use the "CONTACT US" option in the top right corner of this page.

That said, the answer to the second half of your question (would CLC ship the extra wood for an extra fee) is yes. You just have to get with them to determine the amount and type of wood you need and they'll tell you how much it will all cost. I've ordered kits with non-standard extras in the past and they don't even blink.

As far as yourconversion idea goes, If I'm understanding you correctly, you want to take a kit for the boat in the top picture below and make the thwart/seat look more like the one in the second picture with a bulkhead at the aft end of the thwart. You also mention a deck plate, but I'm not sure what you mean by that.

The tricky parts are the center frame and daggerwell on the one-piece version, if you're going to use that for your base design. That frame defines the shape of the boat, both the beam and the amount and shape of the sheer. This is in addition to being 2 legs of the tripod that supports the thwart (the daggerwell being the 3rd. The assembly sequence is also designed with those components, proportions and shapes in mind. Changing them could complicate the assembly.

The nesting version seems to me to be a better starting point.

The structure is set up for the seat that you want with all the proper supporting structure like the side cleats. All you need to do is not cut the boat in 2, not cut the daggerwell slot in the bottom and add the aft bulkhead.

Depending on the thickness of the wood, you could probably just move bulkead B back to form your aft bulkhead. Even if the fit isn't perfect, you could adjust it with extra epoxy/woodflour putty when you fillet it in place. That way you wouldn't need to order extra wood. But that's a question for CLC to answer.

I know that the nesting kit is $236.00 more the non-nesting kit, but since it would simplify the build and keep you from needing to order extra wood I think that overall it would be the better deal.

Again, contact CLC and run this past them, but it really seems to me that you could get what you want by simply changing the assembly process if you start with the nesting version. One thing to watch for is if the thwart comes with the daggerboard slot pre-cut since you don't actually need that slot.

Good luck,

Laszlo

Thanks Laszio. Ordering the nesting pram does make the most sense. I will do that. By "deck plate" I meant a watertight port so I could use the space under the center seat for storage. To do that i would need two solid bulkheads. I will contact CLC and ask about making that modification to the nesting pram.

Bob