As the 2019-20 school year wound down, Jason Smith and his family, like so many others, wondered what they were going to do with their summer. With theme parks, cruise ships, resorts, state and national parks and air travel mostly shut down, traditional family vacations were off the table.
It didn’t take long for Smith to arrive at the same conclusion reached by tens of thousands of other Americans — buy a boat or RV and spend the summer outdoors!
Project Notes
The Smiths had never owned a boat, but they lived in Knoxville, Tenn., in close proximity to some half a dozen sprawling, picturesque mountain reservoirs, so it was an obvious choice.
They settled on a 2001 Wellcraft 200SS, a 20-foot sterndrive bowrider, which served them well that summer and has continued to ever since.
Over the years, though, the carpeted plywood ski locker lid gradually deteriorated.
“It had been kind of soggy since I bought the boat,” Smith says. “Then I finally just stepped right through it.”
Boat Model
- 2001 Wellcraft 200SS
Reason for Project
- Replacing old, rotted ski locker lid
Required Tools/Materials
- 3/4" thick Dolphin Gray Starboard
- Router & Flush Trim Bit
- Plywood Template
- 1/8" Roundover Bit
Plan of Attack
Smith looked at several ready-to-install replacement lids, including Boat Outfitters’ hinged ski locker lid, but, being fairly handy, finally decided to fabricate his own drop-in lid instead.
The existing aluminum frame in the boat was in good condition, and an appropriately sized sheet of King Starboard was roughly a third the cost of a finished lid.
The fact that the lid simply dropped into place rather than opening on hinges would further simplify the project.
Smith was already familiar with Starboard as a fabrication material from several smaller projects, including making a new glove box door for the same boat, so he knew he could cut and shape it with the common woodworking tools in his garage.
The opening for the old lid was roughly 42” x 12” (a common size for ski locker lids), so Smith ordered a slightly larger piece of Dolphin Gray 3/4” Starboard. The old plywood lid had been 3/4” thick, and a common rule of thumb when replacing wood parts with Starboard is to simply use the same thickness.
Fabricating the New Lid
- Once the material arrived, Smith used a piece of 1/4” plywood to make a template for the new lid. He simply traced the inside of the aluminum frame onto the ply, cut out the shape, and then refined the plywood template until he was happy with the way it fit into the aluminum frame.
- Then Smith used the template as a guide to cut the new lid out of the Starboard sheet with a router and flush trim bit. (Straight cuts in Starboard can also be made with a circular saw or table saw, but a router leaves a cleaner edge.)
- Smith used a 1/8” round-over bit on the router to soften the edges.
- For the finger holes at either end of the lid, Smith used a 1” spade bit to drill the initial holes, then a 1-1/8” step bit to enlarge them and make them perfectly round.
- Finally, he used the router with a 1/4” round-over bit to ease the edges of the holes on both sides.
Adding Ventilation Slots
- Once the lid was cut, Smith decided that adding ventilation slots would not only improve its appearance but also let the contents dry faster. He laid out the slots with painter’s tape and drilled a 1/2” hole at both ends of each slot.
- Then he inserted a straight-cut router bit into one of the holes and cut along one side of the ventilation slot, using a straight edge clamped to the workpiece to guide the router and making two to three passes for each slot.
- With the slots cut, he smoothed their edges then finished each with the 1/4” roundover bit on both the top and bottom.
The Final Product
In hindsight, Smith says, he got in a hurry and tried to remove too much material at once with the router when making the slots, creating some rough spots.
If he had it to do over again, he would make more passes with the router, removing less material with each to ensure the cleanest possible edges. Nonetheless, the final product is a strong, good looking lid that will never rot, delaminate or fade.
The lightly textured surface of the Starboard is slip resistant, and the 3/4” material means minimal flex underfoot. Smith, at a little over 200 lbs., says if he stands in the center of the lid and bounces, he can feel only the slightest give.