Evan's boat projects: floor replacement

[Kfish]

I don’t see any advantage to glassing the floor either. Trimming and tucking in the edges would be a major PITA, glass don’t like to bend 90deg along curves like that and will bulge up causing air pockets.

You might want to go easy with the non skid for the sake of fly lines as mentioned. Maybe something mild and not too gritty.
My boats floor is lined with seadek foam, very comfy and easy on lines but I do realize they’ll need to be replaced years down the road.

 

[skyriver]

My old 14' Valco had very aggressive non-skid paint and I hate it. It scratches everything, not just fly lines. The dude also put it on the inside sides of the boat so it scrapes the hell out of knuckles too. Not friendly at all. I tried sanding the wood for about 10 minutes and said screw it. I bought the cheap fatigue pads at Harbor Freight and it's workable so far. Not really a permanent solution, but I'll be doing an overhaul like you in the next 2 years. For now, the cheap foam is better on my feet, knees, butt and gear. Especially fly lines.

 

[Evan B]

One thing I'm always concerned about with non-skid and fly lines is stepping on them against the grit. I'm prob going to use EVA on my elevated platforms when I rebuild them just for that reason. My floor is tread plate...so lines are done if they get stepped on it any way.

Well, the fishing that happens in this boat is 90% not fly fishing... the 10% that is fly fishing happens from the front deck, which is diamond plate on the very front, then likely EVA over the hatch part, which will be the bulk of that deck area. I'll also be rebuilding the rear deck, and likely use EVA there, too.

 

[Evan B]

I know the downsides to the non-skid floor and do agree. This TotalBoat paint is the one exception as I find it to be a LOT more forgiving than the other options I've had experience with. It's really not so bad when it comes to abrasiveness, but still is grippy.

I mean, yes, it'd probably chew up fly lines if you stepped on them with it, but that's not really going to be a thing happening on that part of the deck often if at all.

 

[veilside180sx]

I know the downsides to the non-skid floor and do agree. This TotalBoat paint is the one exception as I find it to be a LOT more forgiving than the other options I've had experience with. It's really not so bad when it comes to abrasiveness, but still is grippy.

I mean, yes, it'd probably chew up fly lines if you stepped on them with it, but that's not really going to be a thing happening on that part of the deck often if at all.

Totally get it. Mine mostly gets used for warm water fish...which is mostly dirt bagging it. I'm just thinking for trips to Island Park (Henry's Fork Lake) and stuff where I'd be using fly rods vs gear.

The Total Boat isn't as aggressive as something like Awlgrip.

I imagine yours is mostly salmon in town, sturgeon, bass, etc.

 

[Evan B]

Totally get it. Mine mostly gets used for warm water fish...which is mostly dirt bagging it. I'm just thinking for trips to Island Park (Henry's Fork Lake) and stuff where I'd be using fly rods vs gear.

The Total Boat isn't as aggressive as something like Awlgrip.

I imagine yours is mostly salmon in town, sturgeon, bass, etc.

Mostly salmon trolling and casting. During the spring, I do a bit of bassin on Henry Hagg Lake and above Bonneville, then shadding, then carping. So it definitely does get some fly use... but it's mostly a salmon harvester.

Here's @clarkman on the front deck doin the carp thing. As you can see, it's bowing in. New version should be much sturdier

 

[clarkman]

Mostly salmon trolling and casting. During the spring, I do a bit of bassin on Henry Hagg Lake and above Bonneville, then shadding, then carping. So it definitely does get some fly use... but it's mostly a salmon harvester.

Here's @clarkman on the front deck doin the carp thing. As you can see, it's bowing in. New version should be much sturdier

View attachment 90697

Maybe your passenger needs to lose a few lbs, then that bow would go away.

 

[Evan B]

Maybe your passenger needs to lose a few lbs, then that bow would go away.

Hah, well, in your defense, it was pretty much permanently sunken-in because of it being so worn out. Here's @mcswny NOT sitting/standing on it.

 

[mcswny]

Hah, well, in your defense, it was pretty much permanently sunken-in because of it being so worn out. Here's @mcswny NOT sitting/standing on it.

View attachment 90702

Shit, @clarkman 's right. If I lost, say 35lbs, the fishing would have been a lot better .

 

[skyriver]

Mostly salmon trolling and casting. During the spring, I do a bit of bassin on Henry Hagg Lake and above Bonneville, then shadding, then carping. So it definitely does get some fly use... but it's mostly a salmon harvester.

Here's @clarkman on the front deck doin the carp thing. As you can see, it's bowing in. New version should be much sturdier

View attachment 90697

Get bent!

 

[SurfnFish]

been lining the hard floors in my boats with interlocking Griplock tiles...inexpensive, no slip, light, drain great, easy on flylines.

Smooth Grip-Loc Tiles - Drainage Plastic Deck Tiles Rugged Grip-Loc Tiles - Outdoor Patio Interlocki

Smooth Grip-Loc Tiles provide a smooth floor surface that allows water to drain tile. These tiles are commonly used as shower tiles, as plastic decking, and as bar liners to allow glassware to drain.

www.rubberflooringinc.com

 

[Paige]

been lining the hard floors in my boats with interlocking Griplock tiles...inexpensive, no slip, light, drain great, easy on flylines.

Smooth Grip-Loc Tiles - Drainage Plastic Deck Tiles Rugged Grip-Loc Tiles - Outdoor Patio Interlocki

Smooth Grip-Loc Tiles provide a smooth floor surface that allows water to drain tile. These tiles are commonly used as shower tiles, as plastic decking, and as bar liners to allow glassware to drain.

www.rubberflooringinc.com

Are they easy to trim/cut to size/shape?

 

[Evan B]

Personally not a huge fan of the grip floor tiles. Had them in a boat I had back in like 2018 and took them out after a few trips. I find I like things better without anything between me and the floor.

 

[Brute]

Personally not a huge fan of the grip floor tiles. Had them in a boat I had back in like 2018 and took them out after a few trips. I find I like things better without anything between me and the floor.

They tend to trap some stuff you'd rather not trap...

 

[Evan B]

They tend to trap some stuff you'd rather not trap...

Very true. I also don't find them all that nice to stand on for whatever reason. They just seem more in the way than anything.

 

[SurfnFish]

Are they easy to trim/cut to size/shape?

yep, a multi-tool with plastic blade zips right through them. Use them in my Sportcat to offset some of the floor variance in a cat hull.
Horse stall mats from Wilco also a good choice, trim to fit. When I rebuilt my 82' Clackacraft Magnum, after removing the seats to make it a walk through I installed floor stringers to reduce hull flex when up and running, used the mats to level out the floor.

Nice to have choices when modifying our boats

 

[SilverFly]

Personally not a huge fan of the grip floor tiles. Had them in a boat I had back in like 2018 and took them out after a few trips. I find I like things better without anything between me and the floor.

Random thought here. What about an astro-turf type material. I sounds kinda cheesy, but the stuff we used back in my tent camping days wasn't a thick or bulky material. One that should provide a relatively lightweight material that wouldn't trap lines, weights, or damage fly lines if stepped on. The trick would be finding a way to make it removable for cleaning, while fixing it in place so it didn't slide around.

 

[Evan B]

Random thought here. What about an astro-turf type material. I sounds kinda cheesy, but the stuff we used back in my tent camping days wasn't a thick or bulky material. One that should provide a relatively lightweight material that wouldn't trap lines, weights, or damage fly lines if stepped on. The trick would be finding a way to make it removable for cleaning, while fixing it in place so it didn't slide around.

Because protecting fly lines on the main deck isn't something I'm particularly worried about since the fly casting won't be happening there. The front deck will be EVA, then the rear deck most likely the same thing. The main dance floor won't be where someone fly casts from. That said, if someone else is doing a similar project and will be fly casting on the main dance floor, they may want to go another direction than what I'm doing, so definitely good info.

 

[SurfnFish]

Random thought here. What about an astro-turf type material. I sounds kinda cheesy, but the stuff we used back in my tent camping days wasn't a thick or bulky material. One that should provide a relatively lightweight material that wouldn't trap lines, weights, or damage fly lines if stepped on. The trick would be finding a way to make it removable for cleaning, while fixing it in place so it didn't slide around.

 

[veilside180sx]

Snaps on the corners. Snap in floor covers are becoming more common.