Removable center board on a slatted wood floor....

S

Steve Sutton

Well-known member
This came up in the thread below on Classic Barnegats....having the center plank of a slatted floor removable on a round bottomed boat, particularly one with lots of rocker like Barnegats, makes it much easier to bail the boat out both when its sitting on the trailer or in the water.....

Most Barnegat style boat don't have drain plugs because the water will pool in the lowest point of the boat which is closer to the middle of the boat which means the boat would have to have LOTS of water in it for it leave the boat via the drain. I installed drain plugs in the hull of my first Barnegat because my boats always have lots of water in them because of the dog. Way easier to pull the plug when it on the trailer than to bail it out. We won't discuss why there are two plugs in this boat.....

These days I wouldn't put the plug in a hull of this type because I have discovered the 12Volt wet/dry shop vac and that makes quick work of the water. Plug, bailer or vaccum though having that center board removable makes the job easier.....

Looking down on the floor of the Barnegat with the center board out....(the removed board is visible in the bottom of the photo)

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The center board removed and laying upside down on on the deck. Notice the "cleats" on the bottom of the plank and that there is a cleat for each rib in the boat

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Closeup of the cleat....notice that its longer on one side than the other and that it is located very close to the rib that it corresponds with.....

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The secret is the length of the cleat....to fit the board into the floor insert the long tab under the board on that side, push it until the two boards touch and the short tab will fall past the opposite board. Now slide it so that the gaps in the boards are close to equal and both sides of the board will be locked in....

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EASY PEASY JAPANESY as the man with the bushy eyebrows said.....

Steve
 
my barney has a rear bung hole but i redid it and covered it with resin so the wood wouldnt swell then re drilled it a few times and coated so i could put the bung in the back side.. on the trailer it sits high up in the front so it drains...thanks for the other idea good one by the way...

so one hole of your s must be for the intake of the live well when out fishing the other is for draining...
 
These days I wouldn't put the plug in a hull of this type because I have discovered the 12Volt wet/dry shop vac and that makes quick work of the water. Plug, bailer or vaccum though having that center board removable makes the job easier.....
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Do you actually take a vacuum out with you, or just use it when you get to shore? I have a hand pump bailer I got for kayaking that would clean it out quick without the need for a battery. Like this..
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in the picture only longer, and with a hose so you can get the water over the side, when I'm on the water.....the vaccum is in the truck and is used to get ALL of the water out.....the inside of my Barnegats are not glassed so you need to get the water out completely so it doesn't sit in the boat...you can sponge it out or vaccum it out....vaccuming is easier....

Steve
 
I agree Steve. I've used a shop vac for years in my box, even though I had a drain in the old boat you had to almost stand it vertically to drain it. I also carry the same pipe pump shown above. Kevin
 
What we do with our sneakboxes is put a sponge or two under the removable floorboard and over the floorboards put a small area rug/carpet so when you get in and out of the boat most of the water collects in the carpet. Anything leftover is absorbed by the sponge and you can just take the carpet out at the end of the day and hang it out to dry... works like a charm.
 
cause while that system would definately work for a solo hunter it definately doesn't work with a dog that is retrieving for (2) and sometimes (3) people and returning to the interior of the boat every trip...lots of water in that scenario.

Steve
 
Hehehe

",,,,,,[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]lots of water in that scenario." You got that right. Didn't take me long to add a slat floor to any boat I had after getting a dog.
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I was wondering - isn't the point of the slatted floor so water will drain through into the bilge? If so, wouldn't the carpet on top defeat this purpose?


What we do with our sneakboxes is ... over the floorboards put a small area rug/carpet so when you get in and out of the boat most of the water collects in the carpet.
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thanks Steve,

there, that wasn't so bad now was it?

I like the idea of the hand pump too while hunting...I may need to find one for our 2 man.
 
Absolutely we do it with dogs.

Get your dog to shake before they get back in the cockpit and bring a towel with you.

Now of course every situation and day is different and you're going to get some water in the boat regardless but it works pretty well most of the time. It also saves some wear and tear on the floorboards and if you don't have one of those reclining padded seats (very nice if you hunt out of a sneakbox btw) it cushions the floor a bit.
 
thank you for the pics, i plan on doing the same thing to my duck boat, after seeing yours- the cleat idea is a good one
 
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