• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

My new cabin sole for 1983 E28+

Did you find this helpful

  • Yes

    Votes: 26 96.3%
  • No

    Votes: 1 3.7%

  • Total voters
    27
I posted this when I removed the cabin sole in March.

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3064

The new sole was installed in May. It was made from 1/4" Teak and Holly marine grade ply and finished on both sides and edges with two coats of Smith's Epoxy. It was screwed in with #10 square drive bronze screws, no glue this time. After installed I finished it with 4 coats of Bristol Finish.

Mark Tuccillo
1983 E28+ # 553 "wing It"
 

Attachments

  • DSC_2530.jpg
    DSC_2530.jpg
    37.2 KB · Views: 171
  • DSC_2535.jpg
    DSC_2535.jpg
    140.3 KB · Views: 176
  • DSC_2537.jpg
    DSC_2537.jpg
    57.7 KB · Views: 167
  • DSC_2542.jpg
    DSC_2542.jpg
    243.1 KB · Views: 207
  • DSC_2544.jpg
    DSC_2544.jpg
    64.3 KB · Views: 158
Some more pictures.

Some more pictures.

Mark Tuccillo
1983 E28+ # 553 "wing It"
 

Attachments

  • DSC_2544.jpg
    DSC_2544.jpg
    64.3 KB · Views: 108
  • DSC_2547.jpg
    DSC_2547.jpg
    202.9 KB · Views: 149

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Watta Sole!

Consider yourself initiated into the the Viking Sole Society!
If you and Geoff and Bud (sorry for not remembering more names) can make it to the Rendezvous this next June in Pt Townsend, first micro brew is on me! Maybe Daniel (from the SF bay area) will stop by, as well.
:egrin:

Seriously, it looks very very nice. Applying 20-20 hindsight, I spent so much time "restoring" our sole pieces that it might have been cheaper in some ways to have started over like you did.

One thing I might have missed was whether the thickness is 1/4" total or whether the T&H ply was bonded to another less-expensive layer of ply. Of course I do not know how thick the former cabin sole was on your model, when it was built.

Regards,
Loren in PDX
 
Last edited:

Tom Metzger

Sustaining Partner
When I did my 3/4" cabin sole I looked at using 1/4" T & H with 1/2" marine ply. The cost was a wash so I avoided the hassle and bought 3/4" T & H.

YMMV
 

Geoff Johnson

Fellow Ericson Owner
Loren,

Thanks for the invite, but I'm planning to have my boat painted this winter so I won't be able to afford the trip!

Also, I am going to have to get the keel rebedded again thanks to Tropical Storm Ernesto which opened the joint, so I am very glad I now have a removable sole.
 

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
This project is on my long term list and I am still interested in finding a synthetic product that looks good, resists damage, and will be easy to work with on the install. Definately want the option to remove panels. Teak and holly is probably the most sensible way to go but if I could find a plastic that fit my requirements I would go that route. Ive dropped enough soup cans and winch handles to know that if I had new wood I would be so paranoid about dinging it up and the maintennance would be nice to avoid too. To date I have not seen anything that impressed me though. The Beneteau 10R I saw at the boat show this year had plastic but I don't know if it would look good with the rest of my interior.
 

soup1438

Member II
Puns...

I guess this qualifies as a story about...

"The Sole of an Ericson"

(rimshot noise)

That being said...

*WOW*
 

Geoff Johnson

Fellow Ericson Owner
Ted, I found that by the time I had coated my 1/8" T&H with penetrating epoxy - front and back - it was pretty close to being plastic without looking like it.
 

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
I agree the coating with epoxy is a must if you are using wood. The problem with wood is the ease of which it can be damaged IMHO. Perhaps I am looking for the holy grail of cabin sole material here but I would rather not have to do this job again. Most likely cost and being able to find a product that meets all of my requirements will mean I use wood though.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Synthetic sole notes

http://www.plasteak.com/TAH.htm

And, here I thought I would never mention this company on this site again...
:mad:

"Never say never" as the old saying goes.

It would be nice to get some input from real field use of this product. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to sluice down the cabin sole with a bucket?
;) And have it be non-skid-ish even when wet?

With some searching around on the 'net, there may be other similar products, as well.

Loren
 

Geoff Johnson

Fellow Ericson Owner
I crewed on a boat that had a synthetic sole and I took me several days to notice. At the end of the week when it came time to clean the boat it was nice to be able to take buckets of hot water and just throw them on the "floor".
 

Emerald

Moderator
I know that the synthetics have all sorts of great things going for them, but in the end, I feel I must be a curmudgeon and go for real wood. While not always practical, what I really like is solid planking. My German Shepherd's toenails have made me a believer in having something thick enough you can sand out the problems in and refinish.

But really, let's not get into a wood versus plastic debate, as part of being a part of either camp is a stubbornness in belief that somehow one is better than the other, and that is hard to change - we like what we like :devil:

.
 

EGregerson

Member III
looks good

Looks good mark; did you use those little teak plugs or just screws (do they fit flush?) ? also, using no glue did you put in more screws than were there originally? or are the original number enuff to hold things down?:rolleyes:
 

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
Yeah I'm with you guys 100% on the aesthetic part here. I just wonder how well the plastic stuff does hold up. I was talking to a guy over the weekend about it and he says he has seen it in a lot of newer boats and after a few years the stuff starts to fade from UV and look bad. I also wonder how nonskid it is when wet? Probably will end up going the wood route but I dont plan on that till maybe next winter. Working on exterior wood this year. Need to make covers for that stuff too. I would love to hear from anyone with a synthetic sole that has had it for a while.
 

Gary G

Member II
Nice work, Mark! I also have a 1983 E28+ that is in need of a new sole (her soul, however, is still quite healthy). How long did it take you to do this job? Were you able to reuse the trim along the floor or did you just replace it all? I assume you made new bilge access covers - what did you make them out of?
 
My New Cabin Sole

I used only bronze square drive #10 3/4 " counter sunk screws. Along the centerline the sole needed quite a few screws to eliminate any "spring" in the sole. Then I moved out from there, using more screws in areas where the sole curved. I then added screws in places where there was "spring". The bronze contrasts nicely with the T&H and is flush with the sole, no plugs. I used more then the factory, about 80, it seems as if Ericson used screws to keep the T&H plywood seated in the curved areas while the glue dried. I really wanted to be able to remove it easily.

As for the plastic vs. wood debate, between the Smiths Epoxy and the Bristol Finish, this thing might as well be plastic. I actually seriously considered using one of the synthetic products, even got some samples it, but one vendor would only sell a completed sole and the price was nearly $2K. The other vendor would sell a roll of a strip of T&H which would then have to be fitted and solvent bonded together to make a sheet. The plywood approach cost me less then $600 for materials.

I remade the bilge covers from the cut out sections of the T&H ply. These were glued (Gorilla Glue) to 1/2 marine grade Mahogany ( same as used to remake the fill in sections of the bilge: see the second photo ). I'll take and post some photos latter in the week.

I was able to reuse the trim, just sanded and stained, and the finished with Smiths and Bristol Finish.
 

Brisdon

Inactive Member
if you are glueing down the floor, you can stack sandbags on it until the adhesive cures to help it follow the wiggles of the cabin sole.
 

jmcpeak

Junior Viking
I put down tongue and groove PlasTeak. It doesn't look near as good as teak and holly but the price was right and my floor is removable and I don't care when my kids scratch it. It's the right choice for me right now. Install was easy. And when the floor gets wet, grip is much better than a beautifully finished teak and holly sole.
 
Top