A couple of days ago I posted about my water tank below the footwell dilemma. Solved! I'm staying on the fence. I increased the width of the foot well board, added a screw in deck hatch and will add a brass or nylon hose barb adapter at the low end so I can put a 1/4" hose with a hydration bladder style bite valve on it and presto I have a storage area or a water tank. No pipe required. The hull sides will be the tank. Really what I didn't want to do was create an enclosed space with no access. I found the access at a local chandlery for 6 bucks.

Speaking of hardware, screws, bolts and the like, none of this stuff will be permanently installed until all cut outs, bolt holes etc are pre-sealed with epoxy. I plan to bolt everything too, as long as I can get to the backside as I prefer bolts to screws. A professor of mine, Andy Vanags, who taught me material sciences once told me of a sailor whose boat was screwed where it should have been bolted. This sailor was making a major deep sea crossing when he noticed fasteners in his boat were stripping out. They were screws and there was little he could do to tighten them. His boat was literally falling apart on him as he sailed on. The lesson - bolt where you can so you can crank them down when necessary.