Catalina 34

General Activities => Main Message Board => Topic started by: amoreau on July 03, 2002, 08:35:04 PM

Title: sticky zodiac floor
Post by: amoreau on July 03, 2002, 08:35:04 PM
Hi, anyone have a cure for a sticky inflatable floor in a Zodiac dingy.  It's about three years old and all of a sudden the floor started getting real sticky...
Title: Floor De-stick
Post by: Stu Jackson on July 04, 2002, 10:04:16 AM
We have a 10.2 Zodiac Cadet inflatable air floor, bought new and is now about two years old.  When we first took it out, we ended up near another boat with a similar model dinghy.  

The owner showed us his carpeted floor!  

He had purchased outdoor carpet at a hardware store, and cut it to fit so that when you inflate the tubes, it sticks underneath between the air floor and the bottom of the tubes.  The bottom of the carpet is non-skid anyway, but this makes a cleaner, neater installation.

We cut slits in it, too, to be able to use the straps for the fuel tank.  It's a great idea, because we were always trying to clean the floor (repetitive and never "finished") and it gives great traction.  Just take the outdoor carpet out once in a while, shake it out, hose it down, air dry and reinstall.  

You may want to use some dinghy protectant / cleaner on the floor before you put the carpet in to get rid of the sticky stuff.

A muted color is best.  Too light to try to offset heat, makes it light and will catch dirt.  Too dark, and it'll get your feet too hot in summer sun!  We have a medium to light blue which seems to go OK with the gray color of the Zodiac.
Title: sticky
Post by: amoreau on July 05, 2002, 08:36:30 AM
Great Idea Stu,  I'm going to try that.  I know I can get plenty of outdoor carpet remnants.  Thanks for that one!   AL