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Has anybody out there used Starboard or some kind of (in my case) whitemarine lumber to fill the space between the front lockers on your boat if aquipped? I have included a picture to better explain what I want to do. I figured I would get some small L-shaped brackets made out of the same stuff and bolt them to the walls and then the cutout board could rest on top of them at the same level so now there is a large casting deck that is more usable for fishing. Let me know what you guys think.
I did exactly that on my 23 Mako. The only thing I did different is made it so it would slide out and put my porta pottie under it. I also mounted a ring for a removable pedestal so I could mount my fighting chair up there when needed. Used 3/4" Starboard and it lasted for many years until I sold the boat.
Be careful of Starboard if you plan on standing on it- it is slippery stuff, and has no structural integrity. Great Idea to do in glass/ply or teak grating.
Great idea. One thing though, the plastic lumber stuff is not rigid. It will creep under a load. They do make Starboard upto 1.5 " thick but most vendors require purchasing a full sheet = $$$$$. They also make a 1" in a nonskid pattern.
The 1.5" thickness would be great, would have to find a way around the whole sheet deal. The non-skid is another good idea. Maybe even combining two layers with adhesive and fasteners for even more rigidity.
wellcraft does this on their scarab 32's - going on 4 years and it works great... seats and sun pads when you want them, open bow when retracted....all made of 3/4 starboard....
Well I was thinking of using the nonskid board that was posted earlier, possibly even fastened to another board underneath it. Even if they were both 3/4 inch then it would give me a total of 1.5" which would match up with the tops of my lockers for an even surface, and the two boards together should be sturdy enough for the application. I just need to find brackets made out of the starboard or some other white composite material, even fiberglass would work, so that when the board is not being used they blend in with the rest of the boat. Heck, I could just make a few strips that run a couple of feet along the edges of the lockers that the board would rest on, instead of brackets.
Just a little reminder... I build a door for my cuddy cabin on my boat about 3 feet tall by 2 wide (I'm really bad remembering measurements), out of 3/4 stardboard, It does not bent at all and trust me... is heavy. So keep that in mind. If you are planing to get 2 pieces of 3/4 together, do not expect to be playing with it too often... because every time that you want to remove it, it's going to be a pain to lift it, and a pain to find where to store it.... just my 2 cents
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Nice idea! Yeah I think your right about having the two pieces being too heavy.
Afishinado, that is awesome! Maybe I can do a pedestal that raises and it can be a table on those non-fishing days??? What are those? And it will also provide the center support when in the lowered position.
andy,
It appears you have a deck hatch that may get in the way of a pedistal, but a definite possible... Maybe if you support it along the sides you may not need any other support, doesn't look that wide. I'd say anything over a 16 or 18" span needs support. I just made some supports from scraps and permanently affixed them in the splash well for support on my 18 x 36 cover.
Dunno why you are going through all this, that dog looks plenty happy with it the way it is. See Thelma here just heard me say I was going to put the trolling motor on, not happy!
Haha, yeah it looks like she heard you pretty clear... Good looking dog!
I haven't really thought out the pedestal idea, just kinda came to me earlier when I was looking through the Boater's World website for some brackets. I will need to make some measurements to see if that would work. I am definitely going to look into this more. I wish my boat had a bow filler option like a guy said earlier... I just know I would use this space if I was able to walk around while fishing like I can on my Mako 254. It has a flat area up front that you just step up a foot or so and its a decent size area. Gotta figure something reasonable out here!
Thanks guys!
Filling the gap!!!!! 
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