Deck Core Material

[Bill Fuller]

Hello to all,

This is a question primarily for Capt. Patrick.
I know this subject has been discussed in the past and after searching I am still not sure.
I am in the process of re-working the cockpit deck on my B28, and will re-core with on of the foam boards.
Disregarding price, which one is the best? Divinycell (PVC, which one), Airex C70 (PVC, which one), Airex PXc or Pxw (polyurethane, similar or same as Coosa board or Penske board, which one).
This deck takes a pretty good beating so I want to go with something that provides high strength and impact resistance.

Thanks for you insight.

Bill

[John Swick]

I've used Coosa Board's bluewater26 and am very impressed with the strength an stiffness of the product.
Will be using it when I redo the cockpit of my BahiaMar.

[CaptPatrick]

Bill,

For a deck, Coosa Board, (or similar product), hands down...

[Bill Fuller]

Thanks for the rapid responses.
I always assumed Coosa board but was having some argument with my son, so I thought I would double check.
Thanks
Bill

[Joe E]

1" or 3/4"

[Tony Meola]

Joe

3/4 will do it. Coosa is pretty strong.

[Pete Fallon]

Bill Fuller,
When I did my 1961 cockpit over the first time it was marine plywood with glass on both sides, heavy as hell needed two men to pick it up. In the early 2000's I redid it again this time with High Density PVC Core by Michigan Composites 80 pound density. I used 2 layers of 1708 and 1 layer of 1808 bi-axial glass with some chopper gun stranding on the bottom side, on the top I used 3-1708 and 1 1808 and chop on the top with blown in sand non skid finish. (I was involved in a boat building company at the time and had all the right equipment, lay-up tables and glass working tools).

When we were building a 34' Center Console in the late 90's and early 2000's we built the boat from 5/8" core and we had a 23 layers solid glass bottom with 2-1-1/2" transom cores, not a drop of wood in the entire boat. Everything was vacuum bagged and we used the highest quality Cooks Armor Coat gel coat and Hydrex 100 resin. I like the 80 pound material because you could screw a #10 self tapper into it and it would not pull out and it had good sheer strength and stood up to being compressed. I shot a 45 caliber Colt 1917 at a cut out section of the deck sole and the round bounced off, didn't even chip the non skid gel coat, just a slight dipple.

The material is light enough that I can lift a 4x8 sheet myself. I found it easy to work with and it absorbs resin under vacuum without a lot of excess resin waste. Everyone has there own opinion on what material to use, I was used to working with it, so that's what I used, It used to cost around $134.00 for a sheet of 1" 4x8, got it from Merritt Marine Supply in Palm Beach Gardens. I used the 1" material because I like a stiff feel of the decking under my feet and It resists impact very well, I dropped a 5 ton bottle jack on the deck and it didn't do any damage.
So that's my 2 cents worth, I know that Capt. Pat likes Coosa board, the stuff I used was very similar it just didn't have any fiber glass strains in it. There is so much different material out there to use, plywood (Very Heavy & rots), Diamond Plate(noisy, hard on your feet & hot in the sun), Coosa board (Never used it, but a lot of the guys have), Teak (Expensive as Hell, heavy, lots of maintenance), So It's up to you what to use, but use something that you do not have to do over in 5 years.
Pete Fallon