23 Bluewater Coaming Bolsters and Helm Pad

Just finished up a job on a 23 Bluewater.  Bluewater Boats builds a very nice offshore center console boat and the owner decided to call me up to add a helm pad and coaming bolsters to the boat.  Most of the Bluewater Boats are what they call a two piece boat.  The only downside with a two piece boat is that you don’t have a toe kick area which means if you are leaning against the gunnel your toes are hitting the liner of the boat.  On any offshore fishing boat, especially a two piece boat, having bolster pads is a must.  It makes fighting a fish much more comfortable.  Another must have on an offshore boat is a helm pad.  Castaway Customs does many custom helm pads and the nice thing is to order one most of the time all that is required are some simple dimensions.  We decided to go with 15mm pad which is cool gray over bright blue.  The bright blue color accented nicely with the canvas and boot stripe color on the boat.  Now the customer can ride and also fish comfortably.  If you are looking to add a custom helm pad or coaming bolsters to your boat you can contact me at tyler@castawaycustoms.com.  We have a variety of colors to choose from and can also add the name of your boat or a fish logo to the pad.

The helm area before SeaDek

The helm area after SeaDek

Another view of the foot rest

Port side gunnel before custom SeaDek bolster pads

Port side gunnel after custom SeaDek bolster pads

Transom before installing coaming bolsters

Transom after installing coaming bolsters

31 Fountain Tournament Edition Custom SeaDek

Got a call from a customer who wanted to deck out pretty much his entire 31 Fountain.  The offshore center console was pretty much gutted when he purchased it so he was rebuilding the way he wanted to adding some nice custom touches.  The boat was recently wrapped so the customer wanted something darker and brighter than our stock caribbean blue color to help accent his boat wrap.  Fortunately we had enough of a custom color laying around to make what he wanted.  A few nice features on this boat are the thicker helm pad with the Fountain logo to offer more cushioning and comfort while driving.  We also decided to cover the floor, steps, and cuddy area with 8mm foam which was a combination of the 3mm brighter blue over our 5mm stock caribbean blue.  This not only helps reduce fatigue, but also works excellent as a traction.   Another very popular option I have done on several boats lately is a pad for the top of the console.  This helps to keep things like your iPhone from sliding around when underway.  If you are interested in having custom SeaDek designed and installed you can contact me at tyler@castawaycustoms.com.

A custom 13mm helm pad with the Fountain Boats logo

A console pad stops things from sliding around

A view looking at the entry way to the cuddy cabin

The pads on top of the cuddy cabin help assure footing when throwing a cast net of the bow for live baits

Steps pads going to the top of the cuddy cabin

22 Pathfinder Bay Boat Custom SeaDek

If there is a staple in boating industry for bay boats, it has the be the Pathfinder bay boat.  The 22 Pathfinder is one of the models built out of the same factory that produces the Maverick flats boats and also the Hewes line of skiffs.  It seems like no matter where I’m on the road working, or on the water fishing I always seem to see a Pathfinder bay boat.  While there are a few different styles of the 22 Pathfinder, this particular boat is just the standard model.  The customer was looking for a way to make his time on the water more comfortable and also give his boat a fresh new look.  Castaway Customs designed a floor kit to cover the entire cockpit of the boat including the helm pad area and also under the leaning post to provide a cooler pad.  Check out the before and after pictures to see what a difference the SeaDek makes.  We decided to cover everything in 8mm cool gray over storm gray.  While many customer choose black as a bottom color, this particular boat didn’t have very many black accents so the subtle change from the cool gray to storm gray was a nice clean look.  If you are interested in having any custom SeaDek work done to your boat you can contact me at tyler@castawaycustoms.com or by phone at 321-537-2039.

Front deck before SeaDek

Front deck after SeaDek

Rear deck before SeaDek

Rear deck after SeaDek

Cockpit floor before SeaDek

Cockpit floor after SeaDek

Helm area with console foot pads

Cooler pad and rear cockpit floor

Overview from bow to stern

Which Thickness SeaDek?

SeaDek comes in a varitey of different thicknesses.  This is nice because it allows you to custom tailor a pad to your needs and application.  Our 3mm foam is the thinnest sheets avaliable.  If you are looking only for traction a 3mm pad may suit your needs.  The 3mm works great for knife cutting do-it yourself projects.  It is to thin to be routed on our CNC machine for custom applications so a knife cut edge is the only option.  The next step up in thickness is our 5mm sheets.  The 5mm sheets are kind of a standard and what have been around since the beginning.  Having the extra thickness provides not only traction, but added comfort as well.  Anything that is 5mm or thicker can be routed on the CNC machines giving the pad a nice beveled edge and adding a more finished look to any project.  The next step up is our 10mm sheets.  Once you move up to a 10mm pad or thicker you are most likely looking at a thickness for something like a helm pad which provides extra cushioning.  The great thing about SeaDek is all of these different thicknesses can be laminated together to give you even more options in thickness.  Laminating two different colors of foam together also allow the contrast needed to create logos in the pads while giving the pad a two tone border which really sets it off.  For example you can laminate a 3mm piece of Storm Gray foam over 3mm Midnight Black to give you a 6mm piece of foam.  Take a look at the picture below to see what a nice look 6mm foam can provide.

3mm Storm Gray over 3mm Black

For a helm pad for a larger center console boat, we use 13mm or 15mm.  I try to us a combination of 3mm foam as the top layer on any pads with logos so the routed logos stay fairly shallow in depth.  Stock SeaDek helm pads consist of a 15mm foam.  Take a look at the picture below to see 5mm White laminated over 10mm Storm Gray in a stock helm pad.

5mm White over 10mm Storm Gray

No matter what type of boat you have or the application of boating you do, having different thicknesses allows us to create products that will suit your needs.  Castaway Customs specializes in custom products so if you have any questions or would like to purchase any custom or stock SeaDek products please contact me at tyler@castawaycustoms.com or feel free to give me a call at 321-537-2039.