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When I made the decision to add seats/flotation tanks to my Laguna
I knew I would need floor boards that would lift up and create
sleeping platforms.
In the forward cockpit I installed fore and aft seats/flotation
tanks with a 19 inch foot well between them. The sides of the
footwell are parallel fore and aft so making floor boards was
straight forward. I added 3/4 inch by 3/4 inch cleats to the sides
of the seat/flotation tanks that would hold the floor boards level
with the seat tops.
The floor boards are made out of air dried cypress. I dressed
my rough boards down to 7/8 inch thick. Because my stock was random
width I made my slats random width to maximize lumber use. I drilled
one inch finger holes in the slats that would be at the end of
each floor board. Then I took a router with a 1/4 inch round over
bit and rounded over the top sides of each slat and around both
sides of the one inch finger holes. Then I screwed 3/4 inch by
one inch runners to the bottom of each slat with stainless steel
screws. No glue is used here. Epoxy does no work well on wood
that is to be left unfinished.
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FLOORBOARDS OF LAGUNA DOS, IN RAISED POSITION,
READY FOR SLEEPING
"The forward cockpit floorboards
fill in the space between the two seats to form a large sleeping
platform. The aft cockpit floorboards are made in two halves
port and starboard. The portside floorboards can be raised
up to form a sleeping platform on the portside."
"This was taken as Andrew Linn and I prepared to
sleep on board during this year's OBX130." |
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THE FORWARD COCKPIT FLOORBOARDS ARE MADE IN
THREE SECTIONS
"A longer forward section, a
16 inch long center section that can be raised independently
to form a rowing seat, and a 12 inch aft section that can
be propped up against the center bulkhead to form a footbrace
for rowing make up the three piece floorboard system. Here
I am cleaning the cockpit to set up my small cot tent that
fits in the space." |
I made the forward cockpit floor boards in three sections. A sixteen
inch section can be used by itself as a rowing seat. A twelve
inch section that can be propped against the center bulkhead as
a foot brace when rowing and a long section to fill in the remainder
of the space.
The aft cockpit floor boards are more complicated. The aft cockpit
seat runs port and starboard.
I wanted to create a sleeping platform on the port side. I made
two floor boards for the area in front of the seat and one for
the area behind. These had to be curved to fit along the side
of the boat. Then I installed cleats along the port side of the
hull and several other places to hold the floorboards' tops level
with the seat top.
After all the sections of floorboards were put together I gave
them two coats of teak oil.
The project turned out nice. Flat bottomed boats like the Laguna
can make a mess with just a little water sloushing around in the
bottom. The floorboards keep your feet dry as well as providing
sleeping and rowing platforms.
We sailed both the Everglades Challenge and the Outer Banks event
with no motor, the Everglades Challenge does not allow, only sail
power, it was optional on the OBX. We used the rowing seat/platform
several times on both trips and also used the sleeping platforms
which work well. Both trips were very wet rides during parts of
sailing and the floorboards kept the water off our feet.
Mike Monies, Laguna Dos
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