wood protection

[GrandLakerMitch]

I'm curious if anyone has any ideas or comments on how they protect the interior finish of their canoes from foot traffic.

My canoe is 20 feet and is fashioned with half ribs. it gets alot of hard use from fishing and camping all summer long. My issues is that my cottage has a sandy beach where I usualy enter and exit the canoe, which i'm sure will eventually wear away the finish.

I've seen some people put a strip of carpet on the floor of their canoe. Does anyone have any experience with this? What type of carpet or material should I use? I'm hesitant to install wooden floor boards as I know they would get scuffed up just as easily as the cedar ribs.

Any thoughts?

MITCH

 

[davelanthier]

I use door/floor mats that have no backing. The backing breaks down and causes problems.

 

[Rob Stevens]

One thing you could use is rubber "puzzle" mats. They are about 2ft x2ft with interlocking edges. They come in different colours and can also be found with different texture and hardness on each face. Easy to clean, and of course, they also float. Not very expensive. I picked up a dozen for $2 at a garage sale.

 

[john hupfield]

Floor boards are intended to take abuse. They are easier to clean up. You could just take them out and oil them or whatever. Far easier than redoing varnish in the bilge. You still have to remove the sand and fish-stuff but likely not varnish as often.
I would think rugs would rub sand and such on the ribs. And you got to Wash Them!
John