Welcome aboard Rollo. I have a 2003 210 cc. Love it. I don’t recommend trying to paint it because the paint won’t stick. The upside, at least in Florida is that barnacles don’t stick either. My boat has 2 voids just inside the transom. While they both have covers and seals they also tend to fill up with water. And who needs the extra weight? So I put an access port in the cover, put an inflatable ball inside and pumped up the ball. Works really well.
I also have just added a trolling motor to the bow. It was a bit of a challenge getting inside the hull for installing a support plate and I had to remove a section of the railing. I will post again after using it inshore and offshore.
Jim