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I have a 2000 mac. Behind the heads compartment under the cockpit seating area is a mass of space which i want to utilize as storage. Problem is getting to it. I have bought a water tight locker door which i intend to cut into position either in the seat upstand area or on the seat itself. Has anybody attempted this mod and if so, was their any regrets/observations or useful tips.

Des UK

With 4 kids, that space is pretty important as a double bunk for us. Of course, the cavernous stern bunk in the X is also the biggest storage closet on the Mac. Anchor for the evening, stuff comes out and goes all over the boat, kids go in. Morning time, kids come out, most nighttime junk gets stuffed back in the rear bunk (a bit gets stuffed in the bow berth), everything stowed for sailing again. We don't have the routine down perfect yet but we keep trying. Duane is the expert on this. I use the jib sheet attached to a winch to tie the ladder up to make it easier to crawl in and out with stuff. You can rig that with the companionway hatch open or closed. We leave it that way once we are in for the night.

Ihave thought about the same mod. I was thinking of enclosing the interior space and then use an access hatch from the cockpit. I would be interested to see some pictures of your mod.

Only caution I would give is to keep the access hatches relatively small, and/or consider reinforcing the perimeter of the openings you're going to cut. No sharp inside corners; give them the largest radius possible.

The cockpit is literally suspended from the gunnels. The fiberglass in that area is relatively thin, and every hole you cut reduces the integrity and compromises the strength of the overall assembly.

Hello:
I also have to add, if you are talking about the space under the seating and above the berth, you are sacrificing flotation. It is a significant safety risk.

I think that the area under discussion does not have any floatation foam.

Actually, most places in the cockpit where I've cut holes is a foam cored fiberglass sandwich. It all "counts" toward flotation, tough certainly to a lesser extent.

The storage space is already there, just raise the ladder and access it.... why cut up the cockpit to get there. Any meaningful access from topside would be a real complicated task to maintain water-tightness, strength, and accessibility, and to no great advantage over the access inside. I have removed and stored the aft-berth cushions, placed plastic storage containers, about 8 of them, maybe six inches tall, in there so they are "locked in" and won't slide around or allow their contents to slide around. Wal-Mart, a few bucks each, and the life jackets, fenders, sail-bags, tarps, extra lines, cockpit cushions, docklines, etc. stay back there. the storage tubs can be stacked to get rid of them and make more area when needed, and can be slid around to access the rearmost ones with a boatpole hook. The mushroom anchor for the stern lives in a 5-gal. bucket with its rode, so its mud residue stays contained, and it can be carried to the cockpit easily when needed. With the control cables and steering cables in there, and no ventilation, and low headroom, and large usable sleeping areas forward and mid-ship, with good ventilation, and no need for additional sleeping area, i never use the rear berth for anything but storage.

Thanks guys for your input. I was thinking more on the lines of creating a storage compartment immediately below the cockpit seat, keeping the rear berth itself clear. You can sit quite comfortably behind the heads area here. Seems such a wasted space bearing in mind the limited storage on the Mac.

Less is more. I think you'd devalue the boat by doing something like that, potential buyers are not likely to be impressed that you hacked the boat's original layout.
The boat drains water from the cockpit area aft to the open transom, so an opening in the deck below the aft seat puts an opening to the hull below in the path of any water moving toward the transom. Might just be rainwater, might be a 3 foot following sea.
Closed off you'd also need to completely seal the bilge area below this compartment to prevent any seawater being able to fill the bilge )and the rest of the boat) from a swamp, plus worry about how to drain any water that got stuck in there.
Sounds like trouble to me for not much reward.
You also end up making it really hard to access things that are back there now and easily accessible, engine mount bolts, steering cables, etc.
As it is there's plenty of room aft for sails, plastic bins, extra guests. My advice is fight the impulse to carve up your spare bedroom.

We do the same as ALX357 except we replaced the cushions with indoor/outdoor carpet which lets the plastic tubs slide but not too much.