Floorboard Alternatives

I like floorboards in a boat: they provide a flat place to stand or sit, or even sleep. They keep you out of the inevitable bilge water that collects and they can look really nice.

Following are some examples of floorboards that may give you ideas for floorboards in your oar cruiser.

Teak Grid Floorboards

This is from Cruising Concepts. Make your own grid floorboards with a table saw with dado blade… and a cutting gauge and careful measuring.

Sectional Floorboards

These a floorboards from Nexus Marine are in sections between each frame. One advantage for an oar cruiser with floorboards such as these, with athwartship planks, is that the slots between planks provide stops (anchor points) for an adjustable foot brace and rowing seat.

Floor Boards and Foot Brace by Ben Fuller

These floorboards were featured in the March 2016 issue of Small Boats Monthly. The foot brace is anchored by a pair of wing nuts and bolts, enabling adjustment for different rowers.

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Fore-and-Aft Plank Floor Boards in a Canoe

Another set of floorboards using fore-and-aft planks is from Grapevine Point Boat Works, seen in a beautiful wood lapstrake canoe (Iain Oughtred's 'Wee Rob' design).

Floorboards for a Michalak Tween

This is a floorboard I made for a custom Michalak Tween. The ‘slats’ are ¾” by ¾” (19mm by 19mm) ripped from flooring planks. Two strips of 6mm plywood, running from one side to the other under the center section, hold (in addition to Titebond III glue) all the slats together. Finish is multiple coats of ‘exterior’ Watco oil.

I hope these samples have provided ideas for floorboards in your oar cruiser or small boat.