» Helm Pad

Custom SeaDek on 35 Contender Side Console

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:44:51 +0000

When you think about Contender Boats, most people think about open center consoles, but the 35 Side Console model has been around forever. With a cabin and plenty of seating it is a very nice option for a family boat, but still offers a great layout and cockpit space for fishing. A customer recently called me up that purchased one that was few years old, but never been titled and spent most of it’s life sitting outside in the sun. Needless to say it needed a little loving and SeaDek did the trick. The nonskid pattern was almost gone on the boat, especially in the bow area. We pretty much decked out the entire boat except for the inside of the cabin and the customer decided to go with a 6mm Caribbean Blue over Bahama Blue. The customer also wanted to add coaming bolsters to give himself some comfort while fighting fish so we went with a 20mm white. This was the first time I have ever done this color combination and while it is a little bright, it has a very clean look and grows on you quickly. We have a wide variety of colors to choose from so if blue isn’t your thing we have something else that will work. If you are interested in adding custom SeaDek to your boat, skiff, or yacht you can contact Castaway Customs by sending an email to tyler@castawaycustoms.com.

Before getting started on the install

The helm and seating area with the Contender logo

The business end of things

No more sore thighs

Nice comfy area for the ladies to lounge

Attention to the details makes any job

33′ Intrepid Center Console Custom SeaDek

admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:23:05 +0000

I have a customer down in the Florida Keys with an Intrepid center console. The boat is used some for fishing and catching lobsters, but the majority of the time it is used as more of a family boat. One of the great added benefits of the SeaDek is the traction that it adds to a boat. Many non skid patterns on boats are not very aggressive and when they become wet, they also become very slippery. With your kids and family using the boat, safety is always a concern. SeaDek was designed to provide traction even when soaking wet and that brings some comfort and peace of mind. Speaking of comfort, on this particular job the customer decided go with an 8mm foam over the standard 6mm for extra comfort and cushion. The cool gray with storm gray trim is one of the most popular colors options and provides a nice subtle look while providing enough contrast to add logos like we did on the front deck hatch. If you are interested in adding custom SeaDek to your boat, no matter how large or small of a job, you can contact Castaway Customs at tyler@castawaycustoms.com.

33' Intrepid sitting on the lift

Front floor area with logo

Looking back to the stern from the bow

The helm area

The rear cockpit floor

Capt. Scott Lums 23 Contender gets a Custom SeaDek Facelift

admin — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 20:53:49 +0000

I recently did some for work for Capt. Scott Lum who runs charters out of Port Canaveral aboard his 23′ Contender “Outcast”. Contender center console boats are known for their ride and as a fishing machine. If there is a cobia, tripletail, or kingfish anywhere in the vicinity they better watch out. Scott use to hold 6 pound class IGFA world record for tripletail. The Outcast is a 1997 so it has been around the block or ocean a few times and literally had no more non skid left on the deck. Scott gave me a call and wanted to SeaDek the entire floor of the boat to make it more safe and comfortable for his clients. As much use as the boat gets we decided to go with a 5mm storm gray color which is nice for hiding dirt and adds some contrast to the boat. The before and after pictures really show the difference. We will be adding some coaming bolsters as well as a helm pad for his crows nest up top in the future. If you are looking to charter someone to go fish out of Port Canaveral make sure to check out Capt. Scott Lum and if you are interested in getting some custom SeaDek put on your boat contact Castaway Customs at tyler@castawaycustoms.com.

Where is all goes down before adding the SeaDek

No more worries about slipping

Bow area and fishbox before custom SeaDek

After custom SeaDek

Helm area where non skid and gelcoat were gone

SeaDek adds traction and comfort

Starboard board side prior to install

After SeaDek install

Custom SeaDek for Sheaffer 23 Bay Boat

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:24:54 +0000

When I think of a typical West Coast style tower boat the Sheaffer 23 is what comes to mind. There are several companies that build similar style boats and the only thing that separates them is fit and finish and budget. This customer had an issue with rods banging around on his undergunnels so he wanted to do some undergunnel pads to not only protect his rods and reels, but also his boat. This boat is a family boat as well as a fishing machine so we added a pad to the swim step on the back to make it more comfortable and safe when crawling in and out of the boat. Many of these style boats have a nice sharp entry in the bow, but are very flat off the transom so having a helm pad is a must in rough seas. We added the Sheaffer logo to the helm pad for a nice custom touch and we also designed the helm pad so it’s wide enough for more than one person to stand on. These pads are Beach Sand over Caribbean Blue and matched the boat perfectly. The hull color is light blue and the inside of the boat was a sand color so everything accented nicely. If you are interested in having some custom SeaDek made for your bay boat or offshore center console make sure to contact Castaway Customs by email at tyler@castawaycustoms.com or give me a call at 321-537-2039.

23 Shaffer Boat

Swim step before adding SeaDek

Beach sand over Caribbean blue pad

Helm area before SeaDek

Helm area after SeaDek with Sheaffer logo

Undergunnel before SeaDek

Undergunnel after SeaDek with snook logo

The other side with a tarpon logo

23 Bluewater Coaming Bolsters and Helm Pad

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:58:55 +0000

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

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:35:07 +0000

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

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:19:41 +0000

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?

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:22:24 +0000

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.