textured boat floor

I built an all-plascore Beavertail in 2013, painted with regular EasyPoxy. Overall it has held up well to many river miles and camping trips.

My main regret with the build was using Durabak. I applied it to the bottom of the boat, and a textured version to the inside floor of the boat. It is now starting to peel off, so my plan is to grind it off and just paint over it.

My question for the re-do is this: is it a mistake to leave the floor smooth (no added texture)? I ask because I find that the textured floor is hard to clean because it traps sand, mud, etc. Of course I don't want it to be hazardously slippery either.

Rob

I leave my floors as just paint and it hasn't been a problem.

Many moons ago I sprinkled sand into wet resin at the front standing position. That ended up ruining fly reels and anything else that ever rubbed on it at all. You can sprinkle ground walnut chips (they have them at paint stores) into wet resin. That makes a non-slip surface that does not grind up fly reels. But as you said. It's hard to clean.

Would love to see photos of your boat at some point....
Photos are troublesome in this forum because they do have to be knocked down to no more than 700 pixels wide to upload.
And many do not have the software to do that.

Someday I'll hack the forum so it automagically reduces uploaded image sizes.

In the meantime people can send me photos as an email attachment and I'll do it.

sandy dot pittendrigh aaaaat geeemail dot com

Sorry Sandy I'm having trouble attaching a photo this morning. I did post picture(s) a few years back.

All plascore with HMWPE oarlocks.

Rob

Cool boat

Definitely Cool Boat. Is there really any advantage to all plascore. I have so many miles on my Buffalo now and allot of rocks gone by. Still floating away. I was thinking about Plascore two days ago when I whomped a big ole boulder in my rental raft on in Flaming Gorge on the green. My son was fishing the back and my grandson in the front and ‘WHACK’!
Of course it was a frame raft and I was not worried but it sure made me think.

I'm not sure if the all-plascore was necessary but it has served me well.

Here's another picture, this is a recent one after re-painting of the floor. Years ago there was a thread on MRB about the prevention of oar theft. One idea was to use handcuffs. Here is my deterrent: a "U" type bike lock.

Cool idea (bike lock). I had a pair of oars stolen out the back of my pickup once. It's a good thing I didn't find the thief. Else I might still be in jail.

What's that trailer-lights-like plug going into the base of that seat compartment?

There are 2 batteries for an 80lb trolling motor in the center seat compartment. I previously kept the batteries under the rear bench, but it balances better to have the weight in the middle of the boat. It's also nice to have the power to charge cell batteries, etc.

The batteries really do add a lot of weight, so I take them out in a for river floats where a trolling motor is not usable anyway.

Interesting. Good idea. I have two such batteries too. Run one until it's drained. Then you know you have to go home.

I also put durabak on the floor of my freestone skiff. I will agree it can be miserable to keep clean, (I'm super picky about my boat and its gets a major cleaning after each use) That said, a pressure washer and a little scrubbing witha stiff brush and it isnt really much of an issue. I dont think I'd ever go to a painted only interior, especially without level floors. I fish alot in the late fall, winter, and early spring and snow/ ice/ frost is always an issue, a painted floor would be a disaster in that case. I even think in the summers with someone who isn't always "sure footed" I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with it.

How tall is that compartment the rowers seat is on? I have been towing with the idea of something similar to put a cooler in for camping/fishing trips to center the weight.

Mark

My boat is in storage for the winter so I cannot measure it for you, but I estimate that it's about 22 inches tall. Rob

Take a look at materials like Sea Deck. You can buy it by the roll and fit it to your boat. There are knockoffs on ebay