Agree with everything above sjbrit, with one detail. DO NOT whack the crap out of your beachcat hull with a rubber mallet. Even older beachcats are not designed to take that kind of abuse. Best would be to pull a nice even vacuum over the surface.
Agree DO NOT whack the crap out of your beachcat hull with a rubber mallet.
Maybe this was just humor but better safe than sorry. A Jet Ski deck is a whole lot stronger than a beachcat deck.
Yes, good point. Maybe don't whack the actual crap out of it, but you do need a whole lot more than a vacuum to get turf to bond for the long term. You can be gentle with a rubber mallet - just adjust to your particular hull. You don't need to go nuts, but do spend some time bouncing a rubber mallet off every square inch of the turf.
-- H16 back in the day
SC17 right now
Bradenton, FL --
I'll disagree again. Vacuum is ~ 14psi at sea level. Quite a lot of pressure, certainly enough to achieve the bond strength of the adhesive! Gentle tapping with a rubber mallet may work but that is a fair amount of effort! What I did was use the smooth edge of the handles on a pair of scissors to rub over the surface of the hydroturf and get a solid bond. I know the material is still stuck down 3 years later with no whacking involved.
Goodall has a solid set of instructions here: http://www.goodalldesign.com.au/Catamaran/index.php/owners-corner/tips/22-eva-deck-grip
I appear to have a lot more pent up anger than you guys Rolling works too. It's actually very little effort with a mallet - turf is pretty springy and the mallet just bounces along under its own weight with a little guidance and a little pressure. But a hard roller works too.
-- H16 back in the day
SC17 right now
Bradenton, FL --
So after finding out about hydro turf on this site, I decided to try it on (over) another deck repair on a sunfish clone I worked on over the last month.
Had some cracking on the deck and sanded it down, fiberglassed and epoxied it. Then sanded it smooth.
Ordered the material from hydro turf in S Cal, but was only able to get a cut pattern (not the diamond pattern shown earlier), given the size and color I wanted.
I had tried a similar fix awhile back on another boat, but used neoprene (earlier in this thread). Didn't work out so well.
This material was a breeze to work with. Cuts clean, lays down well. Clamped some stops in place to make sure I hit my marks as I was doing this as a one man job.
I bought the pre-glued backed material and it seems to have really bonded. Once stuck, there was no pulling it up.
I used a rolling pin and a lot of pressure to make sure it bonded to the cockpit edges where there was a bit more contour.
Don't know how well this will hold up over time to UV and saltwater, but will be able to update a season or two from now as this boat sits out on the beach, uncovered, from March to November.
-- Supercat 15
Windrider 17
Several Sunfish and Sunfish clones
Ratboat built from Zuma and Sunfish parts
Shallow water sailor in the Delaware Bay --
Where do you guys source the long adhesive backed astroturf material? All i can find are the 37' X 58" strips.
Is smooth, diamond, ridges or square grooves preferred?
-- Tim Grover
1996 Hobie Miracle 20
Two Hobie 14's
1983 G-Cat Restored
Memphis TN / North Mississippi --
Where do you guys source the long adhesive backed astroturf material? All i can find are the 37' X 58" strips.
Is smooth, diamond, ridges or square grooves preferred?
I went direct to Hydroturf in S Cal.
http://hydroturf.com/pwc_matcolors.php
They have several different sheet sizes and colors. Some sheet sizes not available in some patterns/colors, so be careful. They had to call me back and change pattern as the sheet size I wanted wasn't available in diamond pattern.
Some colors more susceptible to UV damage.
I bought the adhesive backed version
-- Supercat 15
Windrider 17
Several Sunfish and Sunfish clones
Ratboat built from Zuma and Sunfish parts
Shallow water sailor in the Delaware Bay --
Agreed. It looks like ~ $300 for the materials alone, not to mention many hours of prep, install and removal if it fades in just one season. See a lot of boats with grey smooth at regattas. Perhaps the best and/of factory installed?
-- Tim Grover
1996 Hobie Miracle 20
Two Hobie 14's
1983 G-Cat Restored
Memphis TN / North Mississippi --
For what it is worth:
I bought a 47" x 86" sheet and total weight was about 8 lbs.
I don't think this material will absorb a lot of water, but can't test it out right now, as in winter season.
I bought royal blue cut version which might absorb more water than the diamond pattern.
-- Supercat 15
Windrider 17
Several Sunfish and Sunfish clones
Ratboat built from Zuma and Sunfish parts
Shallow water sailor in the Delaware Bay --