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Do It Yourself Boat Upgrade

April 14, 2018

Upgrade your boat with deck matting:

So anyone who reads this report or the Facebook page will know of my secret shame. No, not that one, I’m talking about the filthy deck on our fishing boat, Carolyn Jane:

The Downrigger Shop's ship, the Carolyn Jane

It didn’t look too bad, back when it was painted green:

Andy and Darryl with a Marlin on deck

But when I painted over the green with Caterpillar anti-slip yellow, the paint seemed to hold all the dirt:

Kingfish on a yellow boat deck that has seen better days

So at the end of last year I had the bright idea of painting the deck white, to match the hull. EPIC FAIL:

White can be a terrible choice for a boat deck

Having run out of ideas I asked for advice on the Facebook page. Always get good suggestions there. Straight away some helpful types recommended an option I hadn’t thought of. Synthetic tube matting:

Measuring the Downrigger Shop deck matting

Nick Rainsford emailed saying it had worked well, for him:

A good Kingie on the Downriggershop deck matting

Hi Andy, I saw you were asking about flooring for your boat. I have the rubber matting in my Stabicraft and it works a treat... even after a big day on the kings it’s an easy wash.. here’s a photo from 2 Sundays ago

Then, a couple of days later, I was down at Roseville boat ramp. Got to chatting with this bloke, who was selling his plate alloy centre console:

Roseville boat ramp in the afternoon

I noticed he had matting installed. He told me it worked really well for him too:

Tube matting working well as floor protection

Kevin Reid sent through some pics of the installation he did on his trailer boat, saying it had been a fantastic improvement. He joined the pieces together with cable ties:

A clean deck matting installation

A couple of blokes recommended Clark Rubber as a good place to get this matting. So off I went to their Castle Hill store. $65 a metre??!? Just no.

Expensive tube matting from Clark Rubber is a rip off

Back to the office and sent an email to our primary supplier, who has many different business interests. YES. He had the matting. It’s supplied in a roll 1.2 metres wide and 15 metres long. Weight of the roll is 45 kilos:

A roll of recently received boat deck matting

Ordered a sample roll straight away, just in time to catch the February sea shipment. But I don’t need that much, for my boat. There will be plenty left over after our deck is done. So I asked on Facebook whether anyone there needed some - at a good price - for their boat. Blimey:

Hey Andrew, I'm keen to get some of the floor matting mate, what's your great price? need about 6 metres

having trouble finding affordable boat flooring so inquiring about that floor matting for boats. Looking at around 2x5m and shipping to Perth if possible? How much do you reckon that'll cost? Cheers

Hi Andy, I’m interested in buying some of the rubber tubing when it comes in.. I sold my old boat recently which had it and got myself a new boat that could use it!

Hey mate hope all is well. Keen on that tube matting. How much for the metre?

I got plate decking and i have been looking for some tube matting but too many places rip you off. Lucky you popped up haha

Hi Guys, How much per meter is that floor mat you got in? I’d like to do a 60 foot boat if it’s a better price than Clark Rubber.

Hi Andy interested in that rubber matting how much for a square metre thanks



So the February roll is sold out. But I have added 10 more rolls to the March shipment. Does anyone need some for their boat deck, 4WD cargo bay, even home swimming pool? Pricing, for a 5m x 1.2m piece is $210. Postage is very low to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. A little higher to Perth and Darwin. This is around half of Clark Rubber's pricing, but we can do even better on larger amounts. If you have a colour preference, let me know? We’re mixing it up:

The three colours of tube matting Downrigger Shop sells

Boat deck matting is no longer stocked.

Send me an email or text if interested? Happy to post you a free sample when our shipment arrives in ten days or so, if that’s helpful. Thanks for reading,

Andrew Hestelow

Managing Director

https://www.downriggershop.com/
http://www.downriggershop.com.au/
Tel. 0402075000

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