Raising cockpit

The foam sounds like trouble.. water intrusion, cracking, etc.
I built ribs and glued them down with Liquid Nails. Then spars running lengthwise. covered that with thin BackerBoard. Covered that with fake teak decking.. looks great and has held up well.. I'd be glad to show you some photos.. Horsedoo@aol.com
Dan
 
One of the problems that Digger has, is that the older hulls didn't have the reverse sheer at the chine that the newer boats have. The hull begins to come up--and there is very little clearance from the bottom of the door to the cockpit floor to begin with.
 
Have you considered trying some of those interlocking industrial style rubber mats that are used in commercial kitchens, etc? I purchased 4 of them from Home Depot at minimal cost and cut them to size using a utility knife and straight edge. Got a nice fit. They are just high enough to keep me out of the water while fishing and the bilge pump kicks in before I start getting wet. Not the nicest looking solution but it's cheap and it works. I do plan on adding a second bilge pump in the depression forward of the transom, but that's mainly for safety concerns and a back-up for the main bilge pump. Another nice trick that I've found works well in draining that extra water that the main bilge pump doesn't evacuate is to throttle the boat up and get it planing, then pull the transom drain plug out. All of the residual water in the cockpit will drain out the hole.
 
Slightly off subject, but close. I used some of those interlocking floor mats in the interior cabin to "soften" the floor under the carpet I put down. All cut to fit the floor shape.
 
Digger- I was wondering why you want to raise the cockpit floor? Just for the water issue?
I have admired your layout for sometime. Rocket launchers to the second helm. Very nice.

Chris
 
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