New Flooring - Alaskan

[Branta]

Hey Guys,

I have a '93, 18' Lund Alaskan that's in need of some floor repair. (getting a little punky in spots.)

I think all the newer Alaskans have a vinyl coated floor where this is marine carpeted.

I need to replace it, so I'd thought I'd get some comments;

Any recommendations?

marine carpet or vinyl? any plus' / minuses that you can think of going either way?

Since it's strictly a utility/dedicated Duck killing rig, I also thought about just going marine plywood and then maybe sealing with marine paint and some grit.

any thoughts?

thanks in advance for your help.

~~~~~

also, it has the bench storage that runs across the bow (like the bench on a small fishing boat). I'm half tempted to cut it out, so I have a walk through bow (would definitely be a plus becuase of the duck blind that's on it. - what do you think? Not really sacrificing anything (other than some storage), am I?

[Bucket-Back]

Marine Ply with grit would be the way to go on the deck,the bench storage area might be adding to the overall strength of the bow area.

[just ducky]

Russ,

The lack of a raised platform at the bow on the newer Alaskans is the main reason I bought that model three years ago. I looked at boat after boat with those raised "casting platforms", and my comment to the dealers was "what are we raising midget fisherman or what?". Obviously us duck hunters lose a ton of floor space due to that platform, so my advice is if you're ripping the floor out, rip that damn thing out as well. Lots of lost floor space for dekes, dogs, etc., etc.

As far as covering, I have the vinyl and love it. It gets absolutely trashed in hunting season with mud, blood, coffee spills, etc., and all I do is run through one of the self-serve car wash places and hose it out. I looked at a lot of boats with marine carpet, and sure it would be nice in the warm summer when I'm out walleye fishing with bare feet. But since my boat is 99% a hunting rig, that carpet would be trashed in one season. My advice, vinyl or just marine grade plywood with a "tuff-coat" or some other coating would be best.