Ply deck under tank

[dcobbett]

Regarding the plywood deck/floor under the fuel tank; how far does it extend forward and aft of the actual tank area? On my hull, it seems to go right up under the blocks of foam on either end of the tank cavity.

I’m asking because I just drilled 6 or 8, 7/8” dia. holes through the plywood, and the shaving/chips were damp, but the deck itself wasn’t flexing under my 200#+ weight. Any alternatives or suggestions to replacing the whole piece? I'm asking 'cause I'm working outside in New England and the weather (sooner or later) is going to hurt my progress/schedule.

My hull (1976 20'SF) also has a bundle of 6 to 8 wires that seem to exit the tank coffin area at 90^ to the hull’s center line, pass between the top of the starboard main stringer and the bottom of the deck, and somehow wind up under the gunnel, right in front of the starboard side exterior air grill. I can’t get them to pull through or out from either direction. Anybody seen this before, and are they there to stay? Also, why that routing rather than using the main control chase?

[Trayder]

I can not help you on the deck as my 20's tank was above the deck.

I have some insight on the wires.....I think they are for the running lights. Mine were run in a similar fashion and they are there to stay as they were glassed in place when the innerliner was out of the boat and upside down

[dcobbett]

Trayder,

Thanks again. Good information on both of my questions (rod holders + wires/ply deck). Looks like you are about the only one active on this site that has really taken a 20 down to the bare bones, correct?

BTW, how do you like that single post, bar stool type seat? Has it proved to be rugged enough?

[Trayder]

I am not the only one there are quite a few of us.

The barstool is only one of the seating configs I have on my boat. I also have a removable leaning post.

My goal was to have seating that could be removed in a jiffy and the bar stool and post do that very well.

The bar stool is very sturdy whereas my leaning post is so/so. There is such limited space on the 20 that when I go fishing it is great to have equal space infront and behind the console with everything removed.

Are you familar with how I configured the seating?

It is somewhat involved.

[dcobbett]

Trayder,

No. I'm not familiar with how you configured your seating, or what it looks like other than the pic with you standing in front of the bar stool style seat. If you have the time, I'd certainly like to get the details and see what you are talking about.

[thewalshies]

Can you post some of the pics of the bar stool???

Thanks,

[Trayder]

The way the seating in my boat works is as follows:


I have 2 Swivl Eze brand stanless steel deck plates mounted aft of my center console. They are thru-bolted in the deck.



Into these deck plates I have the option of putting 1 or 2 barstools. the barstools have the following fixture mounted to their bottom:




And the leaning post/rocket launcher I fabricated has 2 of them mounted to the bottom.


The Barstool uses one of these from the deck mount to the the fixture above





and the leaning post utiulized two of them.

The deck plates and the fixture under the seating is stainless and the posts are aluminum

All of the above pop on and off in 20 seconds and are all easily dissasembled.

Again my boat is under wraps so I do not have shots of the deck plates but I should be able to conjure up some photos of the leaning post and the barstools.

[WillyC]

dcobbett,
I have the same boat as you, 1976 20' sf. Well the title says so but the hull numbers are puzzling. Anyway, I just pulled out my tank this weekend and didn't find any plywood base. Just a bare fiberglass compartment. I'm not sure if this was the original setup because the tank was not foamed in. Up in front of the tank it's completely foamed in. Behind the tank is the same except for two tunnels (for running cables ect.) adjacent to the fiberglass stringers. I'm just curious if your boat looks the same. Thanks -will

[dcobbett]

Trayder,

Thanks, I'd like to see more shots of your leaning post and single post seating.
I fish with a friend that re did a 22-2 Aquasport and put down 2 Todd plates (the kind that allows you to remove the posts) and built a leaning post around them. The only problem he has is the pop up cover plate is hinged and in the up position will cut a fly line, so he wraps the base of the post with a towel. The rig is very sturdy, which is what led me to ask about your installation. Here's the only pic I could find of the 22-2 install. You can just see the cover of the plate cocked up at at about 80^ in front of the post
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[dcobbett]

Will,

Pretty sure my tank area looks the same as yours (see attached pictures). The holes are new, by me to see if the ply under the glass was in decent shape.

I've also included a pic of someone elses boat where the owner has removed the top layer of glass and the rotted ply floor under the tank. What you see is the center stringer and the inside of the bottom of the hull (the white PVC is the owner's recent addition-not original equipment).
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