Preventing spray from swim platform vents?

Why not put snaps in the rubber SUV floor mats to hold them down (rather than zip ties)? That way, if there is any truth to this pressure release nonsense, any excess pressure would blow the mats off before ripping off your swim platform.

If that's crazy, forgive me, I just borrowed my buddy's snap tool last weekend and I went crazy with it! I've got snaps on the brain (it could be worse I guess) :wink: .
 
The idea is for the zip ties to be towards the inside 1/2 of the mats so the sides of the mat blow up and then settle back down as the water vents. Kind of like the flap on a dryer vent except laying flat.

I think the snaps would hold it in place untill the first wave.

I do have to agree that the holes are such a small percentage of the overall space of the platform that they can't do much. On a bumpy day Ole' Faithful will shoot a spray pretty high though.
 
UPDATE...

I forgot to update my post in case this drives anyone else crazy.

I grabbed the cheap clear mats that my Dad had covering his nice carpet ones (sorry Dad) in his Expedition. I layed them over the platform vents and took a knife and cut tiny holes on the four corners of the mat. Through the holes I strung three connected zip ties per each side (2 sides, left and right of each oval shapped vent) By connecting the ties it gave me right angles for the top side of the platform so I wouldn't have loops for someone to snag a toe on. I did this on the left and the right side of each vent using 3 ties per side , 6 per each vent. I connected the ties under the platfrom and left them very loose with several inches of play.

Off to fish.. Problem Solved! :smt038 They worked perfectly! Every time a wave would go under the boat the mats would rise an inch or two and vent the spray to the sides. No wet captain, no wet dash...Perfect. I expected them to be destroyed quickly but it didn't even tear one.

The cheap clear mats weren't even noticable and when I got back I simply cut the zip ties and stored the mats. I had been thinking about some heavy all-weather matts but the light weight clear ones did the trick.

I planned on putting them back on when we used the boat for fishing but as mentioned in an earlier post have now sold her.

Anyway, I hope you guys are well and if you "Back Down" your boat while fishing, here is a solution that works.

Note: Not to start an arguement about the laws of physics and the "Pressure" created under the platform but the fact that the mats weren't ripped by the first wave and lasted all day gave me the idea that there wasn't to much force there. I don't think I would block the vents off but the thin plastic didn't even tear when left loose.
 
Interesting solution. Quite ingenious.

How about more permanently mounting them on the underside of the vent. They'd work pretty much the same way, but having them on the underside would perhaps allow you to keep them there -- not having to put on/take off.

Your platform is quite a bit off the water so if they hang down 1", they wouldn't get snagged by flowing water.
 
If they were under the platform, as a wave made them rise it would block off the vents. See my Note I added in edit while you were posting. I don't know how big a deal it would be to block the vents.

I considered using a piece of Eisen (sp?) Glass to look nicer but I thought the floor mats may be more rigid.
 
I replaced the inserts on a 340DA with solid pieces of granite. That boat went a lot of places with no trouble out of the swim platform.
 
The importance of keeping water from going up through the vents is the issue, isn't it?

Some here feel the pressure relief function is of key importance to keep the platform attached to the boat. Others feel the vents are to let the water drain off the platform, and don't need to function as pressure-release valves.

If the former is true, you need the covers on the top as you had it. If the latter is true, you can put them on the bottom.

I guess you could tell if 'on the bottom' was the wrong place when your platform was ripped off. :smt021
 
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