Re: Avon Inflatable Wood Floor Side Extrusions
Hello John...
The sections are {for the most part} simply for portability, believe me they aren't made for the enjoyment of installing them, no more of that nonsense for me...
I've made a couple of "inserts" all one piece things, they are a lot lighter than the original wood or aluminum floors, if your boat is on the trailer all the time then a one piece insert is the way to go.
I've done a couple of write ups recently in here one of them in the "Inflatable Composite Flooring" thread, and another in the "Works for me" thread, both topics sort of overlap.
In a nutshell what I did was make what is essentially a surf board type of thing that cut down on the weight of the boat and by using closed cell foam it added at least 200 lbs of flotation.
Beater mentioned that you might need two sections so as not to distort the shape of the boat. I guess that depends on the boat, but you can easily shape / fashion closed cell foam to add a V shape keel or adapt the insert so that it fits / follows the contour of your boat.
Closed cell foam, the lightest density it is all you need, the 2.6lbs per cubic foot stuff, is real easy to work with, you can cut it with a box cutter or even a bread knife. You don't get "dust/bits/bubbles" all over the place as you would when working with styrofoam, not to mention closed cell is flexible, and takes FG resin without melting.
At the end of the day the main weight component of an insert made this way will most likely be the resin and the gelcoat. I have a couple of ideas on how to make an insert that doesn't need the weight and expense of resin and gelcoat.
The rubber runner strip works great too, I have one on top of my airfloor not only does it protect the airfloor from hooks, spiny fish, footwear and bother in laws etc, but it makes for a lot less slippery deck, it's the way to go for me.
It can be fun to do little projects like this, but if it's not your forte then get an airfloor if you can, they save a lot of weight, the boat appreciates that, your up on plane faster and the engine is doing a lot less work.
that or you could pick them up if you're within driving distance of the above.
