Every few years I refit my boat, building in a custom non-slip fibreglass floor that doesn’t get hot.
The main advantage of course is that I can run around all summer with no shoes AND I can place fish on the deck without running to grab a wet towel or throw a few buckets of water on the floor.
It is so important when landing a big fish that you take particular care of her and placing her on hot deck is a definite no no.
And when the fish hooked is a metre barra, you seriously don’t want to be fussing around cooling the deck!
So the best idea, for me anyway, is to build in a fibreglass boat deck that doesn’t get hot.
And when I posted a couple of pictures on facebook of me building the deck, plenty of people asked how to do it.
So I have prepared this video that takes you through the process step by step.
Now I am not an expert fibreglasser, so please excuse me if I am doing this incorrectly or using an old method etc.
I have done this every three or so years to each of my boats and I have my own process and if there is an easier way please feel free to share it.
This is just how I do it and have been doing it for many years and it seems to work out OK.
To summarise the process…
First step is to cut out the old floor and use it as a template. If you are starting from scratch you may need to get a chippy mate to help.
I use marine grade ply as I find it lasts longer but I have used structural ply in the past and that works OK too.
Firstly I coat the underside with polyester resin to seal it.
I always thicken the resin with industrial talc or flattening agent just to get a nice and thick coat.
I use chopped matt glass and again thicken with talc for the top side, being careful to reseal the edges after I trim off the excess.
Finally I colour tint and thicken some flowcote and stipple roller it when wet so I get a nice rippled non-slip finish.
That is it in a nutshell.
As part of the upgrade we also got a new motor and some new electronics.
To find out why I chose the equipment I did, you can check out these later blog posts.
Garmin Marine CHIRP technology
Two stoke vs four stroke outboard
