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Cockpit Grates


kydocfrog

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Ash would not be a good choice for something that is exposed to the weather. It has a tendency toward mildewing and turning splotchy black. It's great stuff for INSIDE, with a good varnish on it, but not really for outside. It'lll hold up ok, just won't LOOK good.

I suspect the pitch pine he's referring to is long leaf yellow pine. Getting scarce around here because most of it was logged years ago and none was replanted. Grows too slowly for the timber companies- so they replant in a fast growing pine.

I have used cypress for gratings with some success, but that may be a scarce wood for you up there.

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Guest Oyster

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Don't make it any more complicated than it is in these boats. When all else fails, get some nice pressure treated pine, even wet or dry, if wet, than cut your strips and let them cure for a week or so, and then make whatever you want out of it. If you find the wide decking material that normally 5/4 stuff, and its flat sawn, which is normally not the case, then rip off the sides, and that will give you some quarter sawn wood, too.

Sorry about the size, but I could not get it to load straight to the forum linking from the computer. Its the only shot I had for now and did not want to mess it up with this brain trying to down sized it.

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Pitch pine (Pinus rigida) isn't southern yellow pine (a cousin - pinus palustris) and grows from southern Canada to northern Georgia. The needles grow in sets of three, are about 2 inches long and the tree often has an odd twisted shape, due to its ability to resist fire and illness. It was once widely used, but is now mostly a "junk" wood, because it doesn't grow quickly, straight or well alone, preferring poor locations and soil.

Dave, you got it. The fore and aft lower pieces permit drainage to a cockpit or transom plug. Mike's photo is the classic slats over frames and about as simple as it gets.

Southern yellow pine is called a number of things: longleaf, yellow, hard, swamp and Georgia pine are common names. Heart pine typically comes from southern yellow and some times, pitch is made from southern yellow and is incorrectly labeled Pitch pine. Pitch pine is a different tree, being more resinous and having an amazing ability to resist fire. In days well past, roots and very knotty branches were used as torches. It's not an easy wood to work, is dense, gummy and long lived under foot. It is routinely slashed away in favor of replanting with prettier or faster growing trees.

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Nothing to add to this, but I do have a question.

I don't currently have a cockpit grate on my existing boat. It has a non-skid surface, slopes aft and drains well. It's comfortable to stand and walk on. I have been on boats that did have them and what I noticed was how dirty the cockpit sole was below them. I know how hard it is to keep my cockpit clean.

So why have them? For a boat like the one Oyster posted...it makes perfect sense, But I don't consider that a grate per se. Those are slats that span the floor frames, and keep your gear up and out of the water. Good idea on an open boat.

Is it to get your feet up out of standing water? I've heard of a few boats, like the Contessa 26 that has the sole right at the waterline, such that water is slow to drain or even backs into it. You need one there to overcome a poor design.

The best reason I've seen is if you also include a few cleats around the edge of the cockpit, you can lift the grate out, install it flush to the seats in the cockpit and have a nice level platform for sleeping out. But otherwise, it seems like a lot of trouble and expense, for not much benefit. But I could be missing something, which is why I ask.

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I like the looks of them and have contemplated making some for my boat. The above observation is why I have not gone any further. I can see that keeping the cockpit sole clean would be a major pain. Not to mention the added wear that is created by dirt underneath the grates.

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Guest Oyster

Proper fitting grates are a must, and removable. As far as wear, I am now using the non-slip material glued to the back sides for any grate strips. The water is the big issue, keeping your gear and feet above any decks, or boat floorboards. Even with coolers on the fishing hulls, I use it under the coolers and the cooler rarely slides much if any in weather conditions.

Click twice for clarity. West Marine sells it, and even our local bigbox stores now carry it.

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Floors and grates on an open boat make perfect sense. I've got an aluminum fishing boat that has the cross frames, but no grate and everything is always wet. I had thought of just fitting some plywood, but like the idea of using the 5/4 treated deck lumber better.

I was thinking more of my sailboat, where all the vital gear is stowed in lockers or in the enclosed cabin. Nothing important is usually out there to get wet. I've also seen grates designed where it sits on a cleat suspended above the sole, such that it doesn't ride or rub on the sole and dirt and grim can flow out. But that increases your cockpit volume and forces you to lower the sole in relation to the waterline, or elevate your seats to keep the same bench height. I'm going to pay more attention to the boats that have them. I could be missing something.

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Guest Oyster

You can also just enlays into the flat decking, allowing the water to sit along the grooves.This will only raise you existing flat floor the height of the strips. I would keep the slots to no more than 3/4" inche, routering the edges to keep from the issue of toe stumping, too. WIth that I doubt if any requirment to raise the seats or any other parts would come into play.

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I built a grate. It was mostly something to do next. I didn't find my feet getting that wet. I mostly like the grate for looks. I do get water in the cockpit. Much of it comes from my feet when I am beach launching. This also gets a lot of sand etc. in the boat. The grate keeps things a little nicer while sailing. I still have to tilt it up and sponge up and clean off the sole.

As mentioned earlier by Barry, I built my grate by daddoing the fore and aft pieces. I used 4 athwartship pieces with daddos to keep everything square. then I placed non-daddoed strips in the other slots. This made the grate a little eaiser to put together. An added benifit was that it could be picked up by placing a finger underneath one of these slats and lift. It also allows water to move around a bit better underneath.

I did find that I had quite a job of fitting the grate to the sole. The sole is the bottom of the boat which has a little rocker to it. There was a lot of sanding and fitting to get it to not rock and provide proper support without causing undo stress on the grate. Sand under the grate creates some extra wear on both the grate and sole. I'm glad I fiberglassed the sole. It seems to be it pretty good shape still.

Again I don't know if it is that useful, but I do like the looks.

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Grates just keep your feet and gear out of the wet, that sloshes around in most small craft. Even a self draining cockpit will need them to keep splashes or a boarding wave from soaking everything on the cockpit sole. I store them lifted up and cocked to one side, so they have ventilation under. A quick hosing down after a sail and letting them drain out keeps the cockpit clean.

I didn't find any pictures of my gratings, but did have a couple of shots of pitch pine hatch covers I made for the boat they're leaning against. One is for stuffing box access, the other is the battery box cover. Laminated strips of pitch pine over plywood (the battery box hatch has a white oak toe strip, because it's a step too) Rounded corners keep them from breaking off, looks better and is slightly stronger. These hatches have been freshly oiled and are still shinny (which will not last long) and I could have sanded the seam compound down better.

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