Floorboard installation

[spidermonkey]

Hello,

I've just acquired an old avon sportboat, and after spending the last week sanding and varnishing the floorboards (thank the lord for belt sanders) its time to put them back in the boat.
What is the correct procedure for getting the things back in the boat? I don't want to be forcing the things too much and break something like I usually do.

It's probably worth mentioning that its an avon sportboat 4.5M in length.
There are 4 floor boards altogether ( including the bow section) with 2 wooden/aluminium channels that run down the sides of the boat.

Thanks in advance

Dan

[MikeH]

We have the same boat I think - this has an inflatable keel under the floor boards.

What we do is

slightly inflate the tubes just to give them a bit of bulk.

Fit the stern board so it lies under the wooden block at the base of the transom.

slide the aluminium triangular side bars onto the rear floor board so they are in place at the stern.

Fit the front board onto the wooden plate at the front

Slide the remaining boards onto the aluminium side bars

Align the front board with the rear section and interlock the two flanges.

push the whole thing downwhilst pulling the tubes up one side at a time. This requires quite a lot of effort but dont be frightened of pulling hard.

Make sure all seem Ok and no part of the tubes trapped.

Blow up the tubes.

have fun

[spidermonkey]

Just got off the phone to a very helpful chap at Avon, this is the technique they used to assemble them;
1. Slightly inflate the tubes.
2. Assemble the main deck from the 3 boards and side channels.
3. Place the deck in the boat as far back as it will go.
4. Use a lever (they used to use an oar) to push the deck back past the fixed board near the bow.
5. Now put the bow board in.
6. Have a rest.

He stressed that brute force is the only way to get them in.
The boat in question is an S550.

Though I'd post this for anyone else with one of these boats.

Thank you Alan and Trevor at Avon!

[davep]

These should help.

Dave

[chris123]

I'm so glad I found this thread :-).

Having just bought an old Avon S250 sportboat, I too have discovered the joys of fitting the floorboards (and this thread has confirmed that I'm doing things right).

At the risk of sounding dumb, there is one thing that has got me stumped, and that is, which way up do the floorboards go?

There is the 'stepped' side (with the reinforcing strips round the edge) and the 'smooth' side. The sides of the board are tapered so that the smooth side is wider than the stepped side. There are also webbing loops on the stepped side, which I figured are to attach an inflatable thwart to. Hope this makes sense - I can attach a photo if it helps.

Now I figured that the stepped side should face up, so that:

1. The chamfer fits in with the curve of the tubes (as per the sectional view in DaveP's image)

2. The webbing loops are accessible when the boards are fitted.

3. Gives the hull the smoothest shape.

However the previous owner fitted the boards smooth side up, and an e-mail from Avon backs this up as being the right way, so now I'm confused.

Any guidance from Avon sportboat owners gratefully received.

Cheers

Chris

[spidermonkey]

Smooth side up on mine. Only the rear board has got any chamfer on it which fits in with the side of the tube.

You might have to post a photo. Are the boards original? I've seen a few with home made boards.

[Ed the Duck]

Another top tip for fitting floor boards - use washing up liquid to help lubricate the floor boards as you force them past the sponsons.

Makes the job so much easier.

Ed

[chris123]

Thanks for the info guys.

As far as I know, the boards are original - they certainly look the right sort of age. I've attached photos:

dscf0095 is the rear board looking aft. You can see the cutout for the side rails and the chamfer.

dscf0096 is the front board of the set of three behind the fixed board looking aft.

dscf0099 is one of the side rails

dscf0100 is the bow board

dscf0097 shows one of the webbing loops

Hope this makes sense. Do they look similar to your boards Spidermonkey? My boat was built in 1978, don't know if that makes any difference.

Cheers

Chris

[spidermonkey]

Take a look at this...

You can see the chamfer on the rearmost board. There are strengtheners on the underside of each of the boards (the screw heads are visible).

Just noticed that mine have the same little webbing straps too, just in a different location.

This boat is a few years older than yours, early '70's.

I'm going to guess that someone has replaced the boards in your boat, but somehow managed to make them upside down. They look well made though.
If I were you, I'd stick them in whichever way they fit best. The only problem I can see is if/when you get water in the boat, and you end up with a miniture paddling pool on each board.

[chris123]

Looking at your photo, you may be right about the boards having been made upside down - the round hole in the aft board is on the opposite side of the board to mine - other than that the boards look identical - if they're not the originals they are incredibly good copies.

I've got a day off today, so I'll have a play and see what works best. Avon have confirmed that the boards should be smooth side up, and say the webbing loops weren't fitted by them (which makes me wonder how come your boat has them as well?).

With the side rails, do yours have the same triangular section as mine? If so, which way up do you fit them, with '1' at the top or '2' at the top?

Cheers

Chris