Ready made interior joinery such as pin rails, shelves, locker doors, drawer fronts, handrails, special timber mouldings, etc., usually in teak, can be purchased ready-made from specialist timber outlets or importers and are a great time saver and make economic sense.   These items are not cheap, but will give your boat a professional finish, which may pay handsome dividends when you sell at some future dates.

   Some builders go to the trouble of making wooden patterns for casting cleats, ports and other hardware at a foundry but, unless this is for a particular reason/hobby, it is usually cheaper and quicker to buy from the vast ready made selection of castings available these days from your local chandlers.

   Unfortunately, space restrictions do not allow me to cover the fitting out with the amount of detail that the subject requires.   At a later stage, I hope to devote an entire book to the subject.  Until then, you can find several alternate publications that will be of great assistance in this area.

   Finally, avoid using your boat before the fitting out is complete.   It is almost impossible to use a boat and complete the interior simultaneously.   If, for some reason, you can’t avoid launching the boat before it is finished, then make sure you fit out one area completely before starting another.  Take your time with the fitting out process.  You will never regret it.