SeaDek is a closed cell EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) foam that is dense and comfortable and works as a non-skid material in the marine environment. It sticks to the floor of the boat with a marine-grade 3MTM acrylic-based, high-bond, pressure-sensitive adhesive. The UV inhibitors applied to it protect the material from fading and shrinkage. Apart from saving the surface from becoming slippery when wet - an otherwise natural outcome when you spend long days on the water - it also provides you with the comfort of cushioning.
Castaway Customs SeaDek come in a wide variety of sizes, colors, and construction patterns. Irrespective of what type of boat you own, there is a product that will meet your needs. You can have custom-designed products built, especially to match your boat needs, or you can choose to buy stock sheet material. Its hassle-free application, with its peel and stick adhesive, saves you from the pain of working with glue. There are several other advantages of having a Castaway Customs SeaDek on your boat. We will have a detailed look into each of them in the coming segments.
SeaDek is Easy to Clean
When you are on the water for an extended period, there is no way to prevent your SeaDek from getting wet. As a result, bacteria and mold grow on these surfaces. There is also the risk of the SeaDek getting stained. Depending on the material and the cleaning frequency, some stains may become permanent on the surface. While cleaning is a way to eliminate these issues, what if we told you that SeaDek combats these issues from the very beginning? A considerable benefit of having Castaway Customs Seadek on your boat is that it comes with the in-built properties of stain, mold, and bacteria resistance. The product uses soft yet durable, non-absorbent PE/EVA blended foam material that protects outside elements to penetrate deep into the surface. In addition, the UV protection features help protect your SeaDek from stains and become faded over time.
The Castaway Customs SeaDek have an embossed pattern, called microdots, into the pads. These microdots help create a textured pattern—the combination of this pattern with the foam results in a non-skid surface. At the same time, it also ensures that the surface remains protected from external elements sitting deep on the surface.
There is nothing to worry about if you do not have the specific SeaDek cleaner you need for PE/EVA foam. You can clean your SeaDek comfortably with available household material like soap, hot water, and a stiff brush. For areas where the stains are stubborn, you can use any household hard-stain cleaning material. However, the acid-based cleaners are not suitable for the surface and may end up causing more harm. I find that simple Dawn dishwashing liquid removes difficult stains without damaging the foam pads.
If you use a Castaway Customs SeaDek foam fish ruler, you can clean it by wiping it down. If you invest a little time each day to clean your SeaDek, you will enjoy a long-lasting SeaDek without having the pain of hanging out a smelly, mildewed, wet carpet to dry.
Improve Your Boats Look
While the importance of the durability and stain-resistance properties of the SeaDek is paramount, you would never want to have them at the cost of your boat's stylish looks. The Castaway Customs SeaDek can transform your boat, and whether you want elegance or just awesomeness, they can make it happen. For example, if you are looking for a non-slip standing mat for your boat, the Castaway Customs SeaDek, with 13 mm-thick foam, is available in various colors, including aqua camo, cool grey, or storm grey and mocha. Same are the options available for the much longer 40" X80" Castaway Customs sheet SeaDek material. In addition, you can cut the material according to your customized flooring needs.
Apart from the wide variety of colors, the Castaway Customs SeaDek can also provide logos that make your boat look aesthetically pleasing and stand out from the rest. While using SeaDek for your boat interiors, do not only focus on the floors. While you can apply your SeaDek on horizontal surfaces, such as floors and decks, swim platforms, lounging pads, steps, hatch cover, casting platforms, and cooler pads, you can also apply them to vertical surfaces. The vertical surface could be your helm pads, coaming pads, or bolsters.
The aesthetic value of SeaDek is realizable on any boat. You can use it on powerboats, sailboats, deck and pontoon boats, fish/hunt boats, airboats, wave runners, paddleboards, docks, and boat slips, and more. While decorating, you can do the designing on your own. The advantage of Castaway Customs SeaDek is that they are immensely DIY-friendly. You can cut them comfortably in the exact shape you want and then apply them on the surface with a simple peel and stick mechanism.
However, if you want to go for a precision installation, they provide fantastic services that will get it done for you. The designing services work both at the user's location and their facility. They can conduct an accurate digital scan of your boat to achieve an ideal fit. They also leverage advanced design programs to survey and scan your vessel and create an exact blueprint for your custom decking kit. Watch the video below showing the precision that we are referring to; watch how they use the instrument to take accurate blueprints for a perfect cut every time.
To decide on the designs, you can choose from a template kit or fill out a custom design form with sizes, shapes, and corner radius information. The SeaDek, owing to its material characteristics, offers a very high level of design flexibility. As a result, you can achieve almost any design that you can think of; that is, the product's beauty.
Protect Your Boats Gel Coat
To understand SeaDek's role in protecting the gel coat on a boat, we need to understand what a gel coat is. Boat manufacturers use a special resin on the surface of a fiberglass boat. While the gel coat contributes little value to the boat structure, it helps protect the hull and helps its color and shine last longer.
Once sprayed, the gel coat adopts the shape and structure of the mold surface. It gives an ultra-high gloss to the new boats, making the surface appear highly polished and sometimes mirror-like. However, like every surface coating, the gel coat also eventually erodes with time and exposure. If not protected well, it becomes dull and chalky. Cutting SeaDek sheets and custom fitting them around your gel-coated surface help you protect your gel coat in the long run.
You can cut it easily with a sharp razor knife. The peel and stick application makes it easier to apply any curved surface. The 3M adhesive baking makes it stick robustly onto the surface. Since it is stain and bacteria-resistant and can be hosed down or pressure-washed, it plays an influential role in stopping contaminants from reaching your actual boat surface. It also comes with UV protection, saving the Gelcoat from fading. With proper surface preparation and installation, SeaDek guarantees your Gelcoat protection of a minimum of 5-7 years.
Stop Scaring the Fish
No matter how skilled an angler you are, one thing that always harms your fishing success is the noise. You can easily course-correct if you are not successful with your baits or experiencing backlashes and tangles. But, there is no quick fix if your boat resonates through the water like Phil collins beating on the drums. The noise might have many different sources. It can generate from the dropped gears hitting the bottom of your boat, hulls that make a slurping sound on the water, trolling motors, or inefficiently handled push-poles. No matter what the source is, unnatural sounds on the water should be minimized for optimal success. In cases where complete cancellation of noise is impossible, you must try to diminish it as much as you can.
Castaway Customs SeaDek offer an excellent solution to stop sounds coming out from all these different sources. Since it is a closed-cell, non-absorptive deck treatment available in a wide variety of thicknesses, it works perfectly in keeping the noise level limited to its barest minimum. The higher the thickness of the foam, the better the noise cancellation properties.
You will get different Castaway Customs SeaDek varieties with as high thickness as 13 mm. While, for new boats, the SeaDek installation is easy, you should not get bogged down if you are using an old one. The Castaway Customs SeaDek serves perfect in retrofitting to soundproof your old boat. All you need to do is buy stock size sheets and then cut them to match your needs.
The application on SeaDek in canceling noise should not only remain limited to the deck. You can also use it to soundproof the gunnels of shallow water boats against randomly dropped rods. It can also be applied to drink containers, tackle boxes, and other gear you usually bring into fishing boats.
Experts suggest that to achieve the best soundproof standards, one should cover the entire interior surface of the boat, including the push-pole platform.
The SeaDek application on the boat floor also helps absorb the noise generated from an angler's movements. While the use of hard-soled shoes is not recommended, in cases where one needs to wear one, the SeaDek flooring goes a long way in canceling the noise.
SeaDek is Great on the Back
If you spend long periods on your boat, the SeaDek becomes a mandatory requirement for your comfort. As we have already seen, Castaway Customs SeaDek will come with 13 mm foam, which is highly comfortable and relaxing. It is highly non-skid. Yet, if you fall for some reason on your boat floor, it minimizes the risk of injury.
One common issue with many flooring solutions that often get exposed to the open sun is that they become warmer as the day progresses, making the surface uncomfortable to stand or sit on. SeaDeks, owing to their closed-cell structure, quickly dissipates heat. As a result, it never becomes uncomfortably hot to stand on.
Overall comfort is what you get from Castaway Customs Seadek. Apart from the 15 mm thick product, several other thicknesses are available to match your required comfort level. The thickness requirement also varies with the exact shape and nature of the surface you are applying it on. There is a 15 mm helm pad that you can use if you are trolling offshore all day long. An 8 mm swim platform pad is perfect for sitting and kneeling if you are crawling up onto the swim platform of your wakeboard boat. If you are using a flats boat to pole around, you can use the poling platform pads.
Summary
Owning a boat is a matter of pride for most anglers. They usually treat their boats like luxury items and keep them very close to their heart. It is, therefore, important that the boat lasts long and its surface remains protected. At the same time, the enhancements should not bring down efficiency. Instead, they should add value to the boat. Installing Castaway Customs SeaDek on your boats comes with all these advantages. Not that it helps you protect your boat, its non-skid property saves you from on-boat accidents. The noise-cancellation feature enables you to get as close as possible to the fish without spooking them. Its thick foam works well on your feet and back, especially when you spend long hours on the boat. Finally, it helps you create a unique look for your boat that makes you stand out from the rest without eating into any of your boat's core strengths and efficiencies.
Installation takes about 30 minutes, give or take; here is a video on the whole SeaDek installation by Castaway Customs. First, we were sure to clean the deck to save time and extra work; the gentlemen then prepped the surface to remove any surface boat wax, and then the pieces are laid out like a giant puzzle. After that, the adhesive is removed and stuck where it belongs; the foam is rolled to ensure no air bubbles are present.
