Swim platform ideas for older Sea Ray

Sounds good to me. Your boat must be a lot larger than my 220, becuase my platform width is about 75". Haven't done exact measurements yet, but it will come out about 24" from rub rail, and add another 10 inches or so where it gets bolted to the existing platform.

I'm using 1" Starboard, and I'm hoping the extra heft negates the need for any bracing below the platform. I guess with 3/4" it's a good idea, although I'd bet it depends on how far out you come, and how many braces you're using. Using six sounds about right, especially if your's is 96 wide. But, not having built mine yet, don't take my advice!

A note on the stainless tubing. I ordered 1" from Rockford today, and they said I should not have a problem compressing the ends, and bending, in a large vise. I'm buying some cobalt bits for the drilling. They also said it can be cut with a regular hacksaw. I'm thinking of a good metal blade for one of my power saws though.
 
We where concerned with the width/depth that it would be bouncy on the very ends.This is a full sheet left to rigth.Like I said prior, they are oversized sheets.Which is where people tend to put the most weight when hopping boat to boat.So we made it level on the trailer to allow for some lifting if we later needed a 1/2" aluminum brace underneath to stiffen it even more.The brace would lift the rear of the deck up when the boat sits at actual water line level.

Well that really wasn't the case so far.The ends do not move under full grown male weight.What does happen is the rear of the boat dips down under people weight and it increases the angle of the deck in relation to the water....the deck was dead flat on the trailer.When there is not 4 plus people on the deck or transom the deck is not so angled.I think the actual depth of the deck makes this noticeable to me.Most decks are a full 10" shorter.
If you look at the underside of my deck you will see everything is square.All the poles attach to the bottomside of the deck in a straight line L-to-R.That is where we thought of using the brace.Screw the pole mounts to the brace and screw the brace to the deck.

To be honest, I'm not even sure I will mess with it.You don't notice it in the water when you are on it...only when you try to look for it.It actually drains water pretty well.

We where concerned with the width/depth that it would be bouncy on the very ends.


In case I did not mention this before, these sheets are friggin HEAVY.
 
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I think that's where Starboard might be a better choice than fiberglass. With fiberglass and all that flexing, you might start seeing spider cracks and other stress cracks. Of course, the commercial units such as swimplatform.com, take that into consideration and over-build it to prevent any cracking. But, Starboard as far as I know does not crack, so you can more or less bouce off the edges all you want.... hey, you have a built-in diving board there!

BTW, I ordered the three-step Windline ladder today. Looks like the same unit as yours in the three-step version, with the push-button release. Turns out buying it directly from Windline was the best price. Forget CL or Ebay for that ladder. None on those sources right now.
 
A few things to consider and I'm not sure if this was mentioned prior... but did you consider how much the Starboard will expand/contract? If i recall, some similar products expand every bit as much as regular wood does. i.e. when you mount it, it may expand to the point of cracking the surrounding material (fiberglass) or the Starboard itself. I would imagine the fiberglass to fiberglass characteristics would be more advantageous than the glass to starboard setup. But I'm not a chemist/structural eng;r who can tell you about expansion properties :)

I would also consider the weight of the product itself. I saw someone mention it was super heavy! How much difference is it oppsed to the the swimplatforms setup? In a boat your size, weight is a critical factor in performance, safety and fuel economy. when you have alot of weight in the aft section, it "could" be more difficult to get up on plane/hold a plane, more tab use etc... Just something to consider when planning your decisions.
 
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The final weight might be a bit more than a commercial platform when using 1" Starboard, but not by much. A full 4x8 sheet of 1" Starboard AS weighs 160 lbs. My platform will be at most 75" wide x 38" (at longest point) and King's calculator on their site says it will weigh 99 lbs. http://www.kingstarboard.com/Products/Starboard.aspx
Add the ladder and 4 braces and I'm sure it will be less than 140.00 lbs. Not too bad.

As far as cracking, it's something to think about. The Starboard is impervious to cracking, but fiberglass isn't, so it's something to keep an eye on.

I'm committed, having ordered the Starboard, ladder and braces, so there's no turning back at this point.

One question in my mind is whether I should add a rub rail. Taco Marine makes a 1" rub rail for swim platforms, and I may take a look at it if I can find it locally. Backing into my slip is sometimes tricky, and if it's a windy day it's that much harder. I wouldn't want to damage my new platform, and the rub rail should help. I know swimplatforms.com uses rub rails on theirs.
 
I'd wait and see what you think about it's softness.I can hit it with a hammer on the edge and nothing happens.

BTW, I just re-read this thread and it seems my pics are out of date.That line you see is gone.I had yet to sand the difference between the two sheets.The router bit was just short to do them even.I router'd top and bottom side.

I hated that line..which was made worse by dirt.
 
Yes, I just made a hatch cover with 1/2" Starboard and enjoyed working with it. It is tough stuff, but you haven't seem me backing in a slip :wow:

Taco Marine is sending me a rub rail sample, and I have plenty time to decide since the Starboard won't be here till the end of March.

What router round over bit did you use on your 3/4" Starboard? I'm no carpenter, so I don't know which one to use if I rout it..... 3/8" or 1/2"????
 
I'm not sure but it was the largest that the normal handheld routers chuck would take.I set it just deep enough to leave a top edge of the diamond pattern.

All you really have to do is use a small scrap peice of starboard and play with it.That's all I did.Make sure you lock in the depth gauge....I thought I did and it slipped on me once and took a chunk out of my deck.
 
Yes, I'll play with it with the extra Starboard I will have on hand. I hear you as far as letting the router get away from you. I wasn't careful when making my anchor hatch cover and didn't lock the depth while using a bit to rout out a channel in the cover. It almost went through to the other side of the piece. Luckily, I caught it in time. They have since improved the depth locking mechanism on the newer routers.

I'll use a 3/8" bit, so as not to totally round off the sides with a 1/2" bit.

Stainless steel braces arrives tomorrow, and I just rigged up a huge (although ancient) vise, embedded in a concrete pedestal. I'm ready to start bending SS. Now all I need is my Starboard!
 
The conduit benders at Lowes/HD are cheap($30 or less) and work great.They have degree's marked on them to make each pole equal while holding the pole smoothly in a dished sleeve as to not leave any gouges.

Make sure you bend each fairly close to the transom and deck mounts and not in the middle of the pole.Much less chance of the pole bending under weight with two small bends versus one big one.
 
Shore, I'm think my braces will not be bent at all. I'm using the mashed down ends technique, and just bend that 3 or 4 inches in a 45 degree angle. I'm thinking once in the water no one will ever see those braces, and they should be just as sturdy as what you did. Just taking a little short cut wherever I can. If I had your boat I would probably do it like you did though.

Accombs1575, I'm wondering the same thing as you, as to what brackets to use. I can get a 1/4" x 1" aluminum rod, and just make several braces from a 48" piece of it. Of course I'd rather buy something ready made, but I haven't really found anything just yet.

As far as using regular Starboard, as far as I know it's not recommended and it will be slippery. Seadek looks like it would be your answer, but I don't know how well it will stick to Starboard....nothing much does. http://www.seadekstore.com/
 
Yes, that looks like what we need. I just ordered a 48" piece. I had thought about using 3 smaller pieces, but for the sake of simplicity (and strength) one 48" piece will be perfect. Came out to 45.15 with shipping. 1/4" should be plenty strong. Thanks for that link!
 
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2x2x1/4 angle aluminum for the braces.
Those bent ends are probably fine.My end mounts where about $4 piece so they where cheap.

On the non-skid thing, you could always just make your own non-skid.Tape off the area and scratch it up real nice but lightly.Then take some playground sand and dust it all over real thin.Then just spray clear or white paint over it.That's how we non-skidded the aluminum decks we built.
 
Also, give King a call and tell them what you have and what you need. They may have an idea of what to treat it with to make it non-skid. They can also tell you what paint sticks to Starboard. I know all glues don't, except for a special glue made for it.

I just added up what the total cost has been so far on my platform. Looks like it's around 720.00, plus whatever the nuts and bolts cost. I will have extra Starboard after I cut down the 94x48 sheet, and that can always be used down the road. I also paid about 221.00 for the Windline ladder. I could have gone with a cheaper model and saved 100.00 there, but I like Windline, wanted a 3-step, and like the push-button idea! Also could have gone with aluminum bracing instead of SS, and 2x2 instead of 3x3 transom brace.

So, it looks like it will be at least 1000.00 less than the Swimplatform.com platform. Won't look as good, but should be as functional, and maybe a little more so, since I'm making it slightly larger than their's.
 
Shore, I have a question about the location of the supports, under the platform. It looks like you installed your braces about half way back (maybe a little more) on the platform. How did you decide where to mount them? I know some attach to the rear edge of the platform. I'm thinking 1/2 to 2/3's back is the way to go.

Also, for the platform shape, did you make some sort of a pattern, or template, using cardboard, or maybe thin plywood, and trace that onto the Starboard?

I started getting the stainless tubes ready, mashing down 3" at one end of all four pieces. The huge vise I have really did the job nicely, although I had to use an extension to get more leverage. I'm using 1" SS, and it's not a job that can be done without a very large vise. I was able to bend the ends after the were flattened, and it was pretty easy. I also bought a set of cobalt drill bits, which should work great on SS.

I also have the Windline 3-step ladder, and the 3x48 aluminum "L' brace. I also decided to go with Taco Marine's rub rail, made for swim platforms, so I won't be routing the edge.

I also ordered two pop up 4 1/2" cleats that I will be mounting on each side of the platform, for attaching inflatables and such, when anchored.

In some ways this will be better than the "store bought" platform, even if it won't look as nice.

Now, all that's missing is the Starboard!
 
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We used a sheet of thin cardboard like material.It was in the insulation section of the hardware store.Then laid that on the startboard and cut it out....only way to do it.The SB is HEAVY and awkward even with two people.

On the poles, I just kept them as close to the middle of the swimdeck as possible.Underneath it looks like there are far back but my stock swimdeck covers a lot on top.

I'd be careful about those cleats....people won't always realize they are not structural anchor points.
 
Interesting on that cardboard-like material. I'll have a look for it at Home Depot. Of course, I could go with 1/4" plywood, but that material sounds like it will be easier to work with.

As far as the cleats, I hadn't thought about that, and I'll watch for it. I can even make a little decal warning sticker to place next to each cleat. I was lucky and found the type where only need to drill two holes to install. They will stick out 1" at the bottom, which is where the nuts are screwed on. Two for 50.00, brand new, on Ebay. Made by Accon. I also bought one for the bow. Now that I have an anchor locker up there, I thought it would be a nice touch. Here's a photo: http://www.acconmarine.com/images/PRODUCT/large/102.jpg
 
The stuff is like thin 1/8" foam-type material in the middle with cardboard on the outside.It was either HD or Lowes.We could cut it with big scissors.$10 a sheet or something in that range.
 
I wound up making the template using doubled-up cardboard. Good rigidity, and easy to cut to shape. So the template is finished, awaiting the Starboards arrival.

I wound up ordering a Taco Marine rub rail for the platform. I didn't want to chance damaging the new platform backing into my slip, plus I think it will add a "finished" look to it. Turns out Taco discontinued the 12 1/2" rub rail packaged for swim platform use. Now you have to buy the full 50' length. So, now I have enough for 4 platforms. I'll be selling off the excess on Ebay, unless anyone might want to buy it. I'll probably ask around $75.00 per 12 foot length. Here's the exact rub rail. I have a sample, and it fits the 1" Starboard perfectly.
http://tacomarine.com/item--1-1-4-x-15-16-Flexible-Rub-Rail--V11-3447.html

UPDATE - A DAY LATER...... Well, just got a call from my Starboard distributer, and apparently you need to order a ridiculous amount of 1" to get it in Arctic white, so I had to switch the order to 3/4", and I'll have it in a week or two. So, there goes the rub rail idea, since it's made for 1" material. Oh well, at least I'll be able to use the other parts I have waiting.
 
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