My new (metal) Boat Project...

Mark Vanderhoof

Active member
Last fall i bought a '90 24' Crestliner Sabre G/L outboard model. Ive been looking for this model for quite a while and ended up finding it less than an hour away. Its in great shape. Previous owner kept it in a marina and used it for trolling on lake ontario. It sat all winter and i finally got started on it recently. My plan is to turn this boat into a dual console walk thru open bow. In summer it willl have a softop with rocket launcher system for fishing and during winter that stuff will come off and ill use it for sea duck hunting and for a tender/water taxi for hunting here in the fingerlakes. Have lots of tasks to work through but the first thing on my mind is deciding what type of floor to build. I had thought about putting down an aluminum floor but id have to hire out parts of that job and im not sure how id use the in floor storage with an aluminum floor. Id like non-hinged deck hatches on the floor. So, i think im leaning towards a plywood floor thats encapsulated in epoxy and fiberglass with the intention of spraying the floor and all other surfaces with bed liner. I need to build two consoles too. Any thoughts , ideas or suggestions on building a floor for this boat? thanks alot, mark

">">">">
 
I would definitely do the ply floor, with Bedliner. I used the better grade of exterior ply from menards in 5/8 and just spar urethaned it before using herculiner on it. I don't baby my boat (lund used for very similar to what you'll be doing with this) and it has held up very well. The herc has never felt hot under my feet, and it will stick to ANYTHING.


Awesome project.
 
Mark - think about an MDO floor with rhino liner-like covering to encapsulate. the MDO does not flex as much as other ply. It tends to be a bit cheaper as well.
D
 
A 1/4 scrap/sheet of 1/2" MDO has been kicking around my messy yard all winter with no peeling or delamination. Not a scientific experiment but gives me pause for thought about using MDO for exterior use.
 
Back
Top