Alternative to floorboards

[hotwheels]

I've gotten sail #3923 (hull #21231) back on the water after being demasted on the Chesapeake Bay 25 years ago. I'm looking for an alternative to the original floorboards as they are long rotted away. I don't want to use wood if possible. I would prefer some sort of plastic to spread out the forces and protect the hull. Has anyone out there done anything creative ? I'm also interested in substituting some sort of plastic material for the coaming boards. I have substituted aluminum diamond plate for the seats/centerboard trunk braces, a worthwhile substitution, working very well. I thank you in advance for some good ideas, Paul, aka (captain ?) hotwheels.

[GreenLake]

One labor intensive (but value increasing) approach is to "core" the hull. Look elsewhere on this forum for the "core project". If you did this, your hull would be nice and stiff and you would not require floorboards for weight distribution (but if your bilge is wet, you might want them to keep your feet dry).

To spread the load, you'd want something stiff. What about the kind of decking or dock planking from manufactured wood substitute. I have no idea what it's called, but you should be able to make something that looks roughly similar to the original - a number of planks on a few cross members, which would leave a bit of room below for any bilge water to collect.

However, unless you get something that's lighter than wood, weight might be an issue. Also, the original wood strikes me as not being 3/4" but possibly less, so some types of rough & ready replacements might make your footwells a bit more shallow.

You could go for the plastic grating used in locker rooms showers. That would be light weight and give you some separation from sloshing water, but I'm doubtful how well it would distribute weight.

I don't have good suggestions for the coamings. If they are not too far gone, you might be able to restore them in a way that they are not much more difficult to maintain than plastic. I sanded mine to clean wood, covered them in two layers of epoxy (SystemThree ClearCoat) followed by four coats of transparent PU varnish (SystemThree WR-LPU). It's been several years since I did this and no maintenance (other than to repair a spot I rubbed through with the underside of the tiller). Encapsulating the boards with epoxy seals them completely, so they stop "working". That, in turn, allows the PU to adhere without cracking (which seems the usual failure mode for varnishes). PU coatings are incredibly tough and scratch resistant, so the effect is like plastic. (I gave the same treatment to the CB trunk braces and they have held up as well, even though they get stepped on a lot).

Your floorboards are long gone, and even if they hadn't, I'm not sure whether the same kind of treatment would be as effective. The reason is that floorboards (often) get submerged for extended periods, and any small defect in the coating would wick moisture that then could not escape. That's not an issue for coamings or braces.

[jeadstx]

Although you are looking for plastic or similar substitute for the wood, if you decide to go with wood you might want to check out Stuart Marine http://www.stuartmarine.com/wood-1959-81/ for the comings. The Rhodes 19 comings should be able to work with minor modifications. The decking on a Rhodes 19 is more extensive than a Day Sailer, but they might be able to sell you mahogony or teak floorboards of the correct thickness.

John

[ddodgen]

I wonder if you could use some of the PVC lumber for your floorboards. I used it for a rubrail on a wood 16' sailer I built a few years ago and it seemed work out fine. You can find different sizes and cut them to make your grate.