Cabin sole in the 29'. The warden says "Cover it".

[clp]

So, the Grand Supreme Dictator for Life is not gonna go with the current flooring in the boat. She is absolutely fanatical about her hardwood floors in the house, and would love to see something like it aboard. You know what that means. And so it shall be. But, if you're familiar with the sole in the 29, you'll know why this seems a difficulty. It is not flat, plus it has that little 1/2" "step down" in the middle. She considers carpet in the same category as topsoil, and sod, which is what I like, maybe with a couple of tomato plants in the corner to break it up a little.
So, with that insanity, anybody got any suggestions, or experiences with this?

 

[Lucky Dog]

After three or four smart alick thoughts...how about redoing the cockpit sole. Perhaps she(?) may understand the maintenance required for showroom floors on a sailing boat.

 

[Loren Beach]

Decades ago, a friend put a teak & holly plywood sole on top of the fiberglass molded cabin sole in his classic C&C 30. He loved it and it did indeed look great. One caveat though.... it reduced the head room a bit over 1/2" and there was little to spare to start with in that model. He's about 5'9" so there was no problem for him.

Just something to think about..........

Loren

 

[toddster]

Just Don't Do It. The plastic floor is easy on the feet and easy to clean. Plus adding ANYTHING into the boat where nothing is straight, level, or flat is a nightmare. If you must concede some token covering, make it something that can be rolled up and hauled out for a pressure wash. And eventually left out forever.

 

[Loren Beach]

Covering your Sole

So, I had another thought.....
(stop laughing!)

Like many (there's that word!) powerboats over the decades, how about having a well-fitted carpet made? They are rated for "marine use" and come in many colors.
Edges fully selvaged, and ss snaps all 'round the perimeter. (Having a "rug" that slides is very dangerous.)

Not cheap, per se, but orders of magnitude less than teak n holly ply. That outdoor-rated material comes in varying weights and durability, and does not have to look cheap at all.

You continue to have the option of removal and continuing to use the original molded sole, too.

What with having the new carpet removable, you can take it out for cleaning or dry storage in the off season.

....Random thought for today...


LB

 

[Frank Langer]

Sorry guys. I have had a teak and holly sole on my last two boats, and love it. It makes the interior look really lovely, much nicer than just the fibreglass, and I've never seen a boat carpet that will stand up to the wear and really look good.
My vote is to bit the bullet and install teak and holly sole. If you can't do it yourself with careful measuring, pre-cutting a pattern, etc., then hire someone to do it.
Maintaining the teak and holly is not a big deal--I do a light sand and add a coat of semi-gloss varnish every couple of years, but that's not much work.
Just my thoughts....
Frank

 

[clp]

Oh lerd...

Loren, I can not believe that you would use that kind of language on here. That should get a man the title "Account permanently restricted for life". There's probably women and children that read this too ya know..
Well, I've considered the headroom equation, and have figured that whatever it is, it couldn't be very thick. (I'm 6'1").
I probably wouldn't mind the maintenance of the teak floor, I work on the boat everyday. Or another one, this is not my only one.
On the carpet, maybe wall to wall shag, like my '72 van used to be. Headliner too. It's got me thinking now.
Or, I could run the wife off, and do what I want. Except she has all the money. Problems, problems...

 

[newpbs]

Lonseal?

Have you considered using the vinyl material that is designed to look like Teak and Holly? I justcovered my cabin sole with Lonseal. It looks great. The previous owner never touched the original holly and teak floor. It was severly abused and never refinished. It got wet and a large section of the cabin sole was soft and mushy. I repaired the soft area and covered the cabin area with lonseal.

http://www.worldpanel.com/lonseal.htm

The vinyl is very sturdy and flexible and will not consume valuable headroom. After making an accurate template of the floor, it went down without any issues. I am so satisfied with the look that I am not going to do anything but refinish the small section of cabin sole that was not connected to the main cabin. I have no connection with this product, or anyone associated with it.

Good luck

 

[Randy Rutledge]

I understand the issue with the wife, that’s why I prefer girlfriends.

My E29 has Berber carpet. I just cut the carpet a little large and trimmed the edges to fit the entire floor with a break at the compression post. I put a spot of Velcro under the V berth carpet and the salon piece is just laid in and held in place by the vertical areas. Works great warmer in the winter and Can be rolled up and taken out for cleaning. With the shape of the E29 floor it would be more if a challenge than I would want to use real wood.

 

[Sven]

I understand the issue with the wife, that’s why I prefer girlfriends.

Probably also helps when there are laws about bigamy ?

Our sole (1977) turns out to be plywood that looks like teak planking. Teak planking probably would not have been any better but it was still a disappointment when some of it started to delaminate due to the old ice-box condensation problem.


-Sven

 

[Rocinante33]

So, she's a warden and a supreme dictator for life? Downgraded from an Admiral? Two thoughts;

1. She's gonna kill you if she ever reads this thread.
2. Wardens won't allow you to have a boat (but Admirals do)!

 

[Randy Rutledge]

Dear Abby,

I need help; she won’t let me do what I want to on my boat.


We all have our crazy ways and if she wants teak find a way.

Don't let her on this site.

 

[clp]

You'd be surprised..

It may surprise, or even alarm folks to know, but she frequently reads my posts here, and elsewhere. It's all just fun, and supposed to be mildly entertaining as well. If I offended anybody, it certainly wasn't my intention. I know she isn't.
It's sort of a writing style I have developed, and maintained from a past writing gig I used to do, that was in some way close to Mencken. Folks would be standing in the streets, with torches, and pitchforks, demanding my head on a stick..
She coincidentally, races those very expensive J boats up north, having once even being rescued by the Coast Guard. So when she gives me grief about how I sail the boat, I get to say, (I; have never been airlifted off the deck of a badly wounded craft".
And she makes a lot of money.

Teak decks?

Not a problem babe...

 

[CamD]

Eventually

I plan to eventually do a solid wood floor that resembles teak and holly but that is less pricey (African Mohogany and something really light perhaps) in the next few years. I am going to keep it within the confines of the recessed areas on my E29's sole. The fiberglass border that it will leave around the outside by doing it that way is a little wider than I would like but it seems that will be better than trying to level the floor and bring the wood to the edge. I plan to glue down the wood strips using epoxy and then seal the whole thing with West System special clear epoxy followed by varnish. This is one of those improvements that keeps getting moved down on the list and may never get done but that I've put significant thought into.

 

[Randy Rutledge]

Clp
Offend someone don’t think it will happen here, this site is as much fun as it is information exchange. Be yourself and enjoy and add to our enjoyment.
Kinda thought she might be a special girl, sounds like you two have it pretty good so hang on and you two enjoy each other and sailing.
I agree teak and holly looks great but in the winter I like the warmth of carpet. If you install the teak don’t let her feet get cold.

 

[clp]

Yeah, I was sort of hoping to get the responses of how much trouble, expense, peals of laughter from the other boaters, etc., would be the results of my efforts at a "hardwood" floor. Then I could point at the replies and say, "Look baby, we don't want to go through with that, do we?"
Truth is, I would rather go the carpet route, and if it got wet, (it will), nasty, caught on fire from my onboard meth lab etc, I can just roll it up, and throw it away. I like things simple, just a dumb ol' country boy that thinks that the cure for most problems is duct tape, and a five gallon bucket. My Westchester wife's response to most problems are, "I'll write a check". It's been a real learning curve for us both..