Deck Material, what's your choice?

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Average Joe

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I just purchased a 2020 Marlin 300 and plan to have the "decking" installed. So many brands i.e. Dek-It, Sea Dek, Aquamarine, Gatorstep, etc. are they all the same or are there some real differences? I'd be interested to here your opinions/experiences. One of the most important features to me is durability.
 
No experience with them all, but I'd say all are pretty close. I'd be more afraid of how they are installed. If the adhesive is aggressive, you may have to do it again due residue if you need to change it out.
 
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I'm not a fan of any deck material. My 330 is in the elements 12 months a year and that stuff just fades and breaks down.
And it is super hard to remove.
Research it well before buying and installing. If you can keep the sun and weather off it, it may last longer.
 
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Average Joe said:
I just purchased a 2020 Marlin 300 and plan to have the "decking" installed. So many brands i.e. Dek-It, Sea Dek, Aquamarine, Gatorstep, etc. are they all the same or are there some real differences? I'd be interested to here your opinions/experiences. One of the most important features to me is durability.
Click to expand...

I priced sea dek, they said it would be $2-3K. Came back with a quote for $7K and I told them thanks but no thanks.
Then I found some other stuff and installed it myself: https://marineflooring.net/gallery/#bwg3/253

It's little curls of some sort of plastic fiber, makes for a nice cushion under your feet. The underside is some sort of non slip material that works really well.

It's not a glue down which means I take it out after every trip to clean it. I made a raised platform out of 2x4 and fencing, I put it right side up and do one pass, flip and do another pass.

It works great for me, I'm very happy with it. Might not be the right answer in a slipped Marlin.
 
luckydude said:
I priced sea dek, they said it would be $2-3K. Came back with a quote for $7K and I told them thanks but no thanks.
Then I found some other stuff and installed it myself: https://marineflooring.net/gallery/#bwg3/253

It's little curls of some sort of plastic fiber, makes for a nice cushion under your feet. The underside is some sort of non slip material that works really well.

It's not a glue down which means I take it out after every trip to clean it. I made a raised platform out of 2x4 and fencing, I put it right side up and do one pass, flip and do another pass.

It works great for me, I'm very happy with it. Might not be the right answer in a slipped Marlin.
Click to expand...
I read that Sea Deck can get pretty hot to the feet in the sun. Have you experienced that ?
 
seasick said:
I read that Sea Deck can get pretty hot to the feet in the sun. Have you experienced that ?
Click to expand...
I don't have sea dek, I have something called deckadence, it's different.

I'm in the Pacific, it's cold here, so no bare feet. And no idea if it gets hot. I got black and I suspect that does get hot. If I were to start over, I'd get a more neutral color, I don't have the heat problem, but black shows off any debris, a tan would show it less and would probably be less hot on your feet.

For me, with shitty feet that don't like me standing, the cushion of the stuff I got is awesome.
 
Got it. Local weather does play a big role. The complaints I heard about were in the more sunbelt areas.
 
Unless there is an overly compelling reason to put it on the boat, skip it.
 
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As mentioned by a few others... I don't have any desire to spend thousands of dollars to put down a product on my decks to then have the boat sit outside on a buoy for months on end, then in 3-5+ years spend another several thousand dollars to do it all over again. As I just mentioned, I have my boat out on a mooring buoy for several months on end during the summer, of which birds crap on the boat, they leave dead fish carcasses, etc. I've heard that the foam decking pads are very susceptible to staining if you don't clean them off promptly and frequently. Of which, I might be gone for a week before getting back to my boat and I don't want dried bird crap/fish carcasses drying on the product I just spent thousands of dollars on to install and stain them. On top of that, I wonder how the process is repeated and/or how the old stuff is ripped up and if that damages the factory non-skid that's currently on the boat? I'm just turning 39 and fortunately I don't have a bad back, knees, feet and so forth. I'd think a much better and cheaper option would be to get a couple of anti fatigue mats at the helm as well as back in the fishing areas... that and maybe get some boating shoes/sandals with some memory foam soles or something similar for when you are standing on your feet for a long time.
 
Thanks for the inputs. The boat is stored inside, I've been on a couple of other boats in my GWC who have it, from different manufacturers. I do think it adds to the looks of the boat but main reasons are much better traction and cushioning under foot. Haven't committed yet, just want to get some opinions from those who have actual experience with it.
 
I am not a fan of every decking material other than teak on a sailboat.
If you read thru the man treads on HullTruth you will notice a few things:
  • it can become too hot to be barefoot, as darker more hot it gets
  • some have no issues and write that it holds up well and is easy to clean
  • several write that it lifted up or similar problems, probably a installer error
  • i feel that more have issues than not
  • if you want to remove it you have to deal with very stubborn glue remains and probably damage in original non slip gelcoat
  • there is no real long-term (10 years+) experience
I definitively would not consider any brand of glue-on deck material, what i may do is replace the coaming bolsters with seadeck once the bolsers are shot.
The reason for that is that the gelocat behind the bolsters is smooth what makes glueing it easier and after removal gelcoat can be cleaned with a blade.
I only fish from my Canyon, 90% barefeet and don't need a fancy looking faux teak or similar under my feet, the non-skid gelcoat is fine for me.

Chris
 
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