Front deck on aluminum jon host enough to fry eggs on.

[Rockhitter]

Folks, I have a 17' Blazer jet jon stick steer. The boat is all unpainted aluminum. The front deck gets very hot in the summer. Suggestions for cooling it down. Not a big fan of carpet but need suggestions as to painting or rhino lining. Thanks.

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

Hydro-turf or SeaDek. SeaDek will cost you a pretty penny.

 

[wmk0002]

You can get light gray exercise mats that you can just lay down up there after you run to a spot and start fishing or doing whatever.

But something like hydroturf would be a better permanent solution. You can get them with 3M backing. I'm not sure what the prices are directly from them, but from Gator Trax you can get some unique colors geared towards hunters/fisherman such as duk grass camo, nat gear camo, gator brown, and others. They are about $100 for a 4'x8' sheet.

 

[Rockhitter]

What about painting? Is this a reasonable option.

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

Light colored paint will help some.

 

[riverrat717]

I have the same problem on mine (jonboat green). I'm hoping the Parkers Sand tan paint will cool it down enough for bare feet

 

[lovedr79]

hydro turf or find a pair of comfortable fishing shoes. i like wearing crocs on the boat.

 

[Fire1386]

My tracker has carpet on it and it still gets hot enough during the day to make it uncomfortable to go bare foot, so during peak times I have to put sandals back on for a while. Has been a hotter than normal summer so far though. I would think it would take more than just paint color to cool it down enough if you all ready say it is hot enough to fry an egg on....

 

[turbotodd]

Only complaint I have with my boat-the deck gets hot. Bad hot. Like hot enough to melt the soles of my shoes if I'm on the water for a while. Until a few weeks ago I had permanent rubber shoe tracks all over the front deck. They come right off with WD40 but it still takes a little elbow grease. I'm thinking about putting down some hydroturf.

 

[beagler1]

hydro turf or find a pair of comfortable fishing shoes. i like wearing crocs on the boat.

yup crocs


Sent from Mossy Oak Swamp Bottom

 

[Steve A W]

My buddies wife bought him a pair of crocs.
The first fishin trip he got sunburned through all the little
holes in the top of the crocs

Steve A W

 

[richg99]

Ha Ha..I've done the "sunburn through the tops of his crocs " thing too. Now I wear my wading boots. A bit hot, but better than the Crocs for sunburn.

My front deck ( camo painted G3 1652) is so hot that this old codger can't put his knee down to crawl off of the bow when finished boating. I carry a small towel, and put it down doubled just so I can get off.

At Lowes, I found a black rubberized floor mat for $10.00 that covers nearly half of my main front deck....(but not the short raised portion that I need to kneel on).... I just dropped it into place and it makes that area comfortable. I intend to buy another one and basically cover the entire front deck for $20.00 Nonslip and much cooler than painted metal.

I haven't fastened it down yet, since most of my boating is on nearby lakes and I can't go faster than 40 mph to get to them.

richg99

 

[Rockhitter]

The rubber mat idea may be the answer. Can be removed easily if need be and certainly does not require the prep or permanence of rhino linings or paint. If I can find a light colored mat like they use in commercial kitchens I may give that a go. Thanks for the brainstorming ideas.

 

[rich250]

if you go the rubber mat route here is a little tip if you want a quick easy way to mount and remove the mat. get some industrial strength velcro that is self adhesive and cut 1"-2" strips for the corners of the mat, one half of the velcro stick to the boat the other half you super glue to the back side of the mat (the self adhesive don't stick to rubber) now the mat can't blow out or slide when you step on it and it's quick and easy to remove, if you ever decide you no longer want the mat you just peel the strips off the boat.I have the mats in the floor of my boat held in this way and it's great.

 

[richg99]

Just one a additional thing re the mats.. They do have to be fastened down somehow.

At 70 mph, they can lift up and disappear.

Don't ask me how I know this.

Ha ha richg99

 

[Captain Ahab]

Fish at night

 

[riverrat717]

Yeah, thinking a bimini top may be the way to go

 

[Ebug]

I like all the mat ideas. I would like to go that route too. When I get around to it I hope I can find something light weight. I look at the commercial mats we have at work and they weigh a ton.

I will share that when I bought my boat three years ago the paint was a deep rich army green and brother was it hot. Would literally melt the cheap nikes right off.
Fast forward 3 years and the paint is now a soft sage cooler. The lighter shade color holds so much less heat it is possible to stand on the deck all day without feeling the heat.
I was going to paint it an even lighter color but think I will jump straight into a mat over the winter.
Rob


Coming to you from planet Earth.

 

[JMichael]

I still need to replace the wood with aluminum (which will happen this fall when it's cooler to work on my boat), but once that's done, I plan on trying Tuff Coat Marine on mine. From everything I've read about it, it keeps the surface cool, works well as non slip, lots of color choices, durable, and easy to just hose it off to clean it. Select the marine option from this page. https://www.tuffcoat.net/wordpress/

 

[jethro]

A bimini top is a huge improvement for fishing hot days. It's like a 20 degree difference and feels more like 50.