1997 Air Nautique floor question

[///m3]

I'm doing a mild restoration on my 97 Air Nautique and wanted to remove the carpet to install SeaDek. It wasn't nearly as bad of a job as I thought it would be, but I have two issues I'm trying to solve. The first issue is the floor hatches. One fiberglass guy said it would be about $2k to make the hatches fit better and that was quite a bit more than I was expecting. Does anyone know what kind of material the front ski locker hatch is made from? It seems to be easy to work with and would take a gelcoat, unlike Starboard. I could possibly use it for the rear hatch as well.






The second issue has to do with the floor levelness. There are two high spots, one behind the drivers seat and one right where the observers seat contacts the floor. Does anybody have any experience grinding down those high spots on the floor? I can't tell if it's extra fiberglass layers or a bubble from the mold.

[janderton]

I'm very curious how this goes! I have a 2000 SAN that I'm considering a Seadek replacement. Some of the questions I have are related to the process/time commitment. I've searched a bit on this site, and see some Seadek replacements, but I haven't found many that go into the amount of detail that I'm hoping for. A few questions are:

How difficult was is it to remove the carpet (and adhesive?), and what sort of time commitment did it take?

What sort of prep does it take to apply gelcoat?

I have spots in my boat that a vertical (under seats), what's it like getting the gel coat to "adhere(?)" to a vertical surface?

Any surprises? Or anything you wish you knew ahead of time?

[NautiqueJeff]

Moving this thread to the Maintenance section as it does not adhere to the GUIDELINES FOR POSTING IN THE RESTORATIONS SECTION.

[srock]

I know they are not located near you but check out the web site for Merritt Supply in Pompano Beach, Florida. Merritt is a local custom boat builder who found a need for boat building material supply and they can get you going in the right direction with a phone call and they do ship anywhere.