teak cockpit grate

[birdwatcher]

Any Sun Cat owners out there with an opinion on having a teak cockpit grate in their Sun Cats ? Like it, do not like it and why. Thanks for any insight. Randy

[Cpy23ecl]

Had a teak cockpit grate in my Bayfield 25 and while it was nice in terms of not tracking quite as much dirt into the cabin it was a royal pain to when cleaning the cockpit.  Never had a desire to get one for any of my other boats.

[Floridagent]

My Sunday Cat came with the teak grate.  We don't experience any water in the cockpit so it really serves no purpose.  To fully clean the boat one must pull the grate out; bleach (or revarnish) the grate; clean the cockpit nonskid; and reinsert the grate.  So, cleaning is the big detraction to using the $$$ grate.  I have also found that abrasions occur in the gel coat where the grate rubs on the gel coat.  Not a good thing as these areas will someday need to be repaired.  So, IMHO I would recommend saving the $$$ and time by foregoing the grate.
//Bob

[birdwatcher]

thank you both, gelcoat rub strikes me as a really big reason not to have one. Randy

[crazycarl]

We have one in our 19 and like it.  Very non slip.  It does help to keep the cabin clean and I finished it with 8 coats of Cetol 10 years ago and it still looks new.  The boat is kept in the drive when not in use, and the grate is easy enough to lift out so it rests in the garage. 

I haven't seen any gelcoat damage in the cockpit, but you could brush on truck bed liner on the bottom or the rubber coating for tool handles.

[kickingbug1]

 one thing to consider is that if your tall you dont want to make the footwell any shallower

[Jim in TC]

Our Sun originally shipped with the grate but the PO found it uncomfortable underfoot and instead put outdoor carpet down. I don't know about the grate, but the carpet wasn't the best idea, and it was very well-glued down.

We do get some water in the cockpit when close hauled in a stiff breeze, going fast and hard over (a little up the centerboard trunk, more in the low drain, and once a lot when we were seriously overloaded with passengers). Not so much that it is a problem of wet feet (quickly drains once we are less heeled over). But I would have liked to try the grate...

[brackish]

We have one in our 19 and like it.  Very non slip.  It does help to keep the cabin clean and I finished it with 8 coats of Cetol 10 years ago and it still looks new.  The boat is kept in the drive when not in use, and the grate is easy enough to lift out so it rests in the garage. 

I haven't seen any gelcoat damage in the cockpit, but you could brush on truck bed liner on the bottom or the rubber coating for tool handles.

Is your grate, or are grates in general, flat on both sides?  Seems that you would want fore and aft drainage channels in the design, but I've never had one, wonder if that is a consideration.

[crazycarl]

Every other slat is 1/2" or so thinner than the others to allow water to run out the back.  if you have a table saw, you could easily make one.

[DanM]

Our SC has the teak cockpit floor grate, because the PO ordered the boat with all the bells and whistles. It does dress up the boat, but I don't think I'd miss it a lot if it were not there. It was kind of annoying to lift it, nowhere to get an easy grip in it. I added a little loop of webbing on the port side of the grate- screwed on under the first floor board and just long enough to poke up above the board, so you can get a finger in it to lift the grate. The grate gets lifted from the port side because of interference with the bilge pump fitting on starboard. Why lift the grate?... Aside from cleaning, there's this: we had a Honda 5 HP with an external fuel tank under the aft seat. The tank could not be removed with the grate in place. We've gone Torqeedo so that's no longer an issue. I suppose if we did away with the grate we'd have another 1 1/2" of foot room.... but it looks so classy and feels good underfoot!

[Renae]

I've never not had the grate, but I like it for the clean aesthetic.  I'm also not sure I would worry about abrasion on the gelcoat.  The grate sits put, and I suspect eliminates (in the form of sand/grit under shoes) more abrasion than it will ever cause.

It's your boat, but mine is grate-full.

[birdwatcher]

glad to here from owners also happy with the grate.

[Maritimer67]

I don?t have the grate in my Sun Cat, but I also don?t like getting my feet wet from the water bubbling up through the centerboard pennant line opening. So I went the lower cost route and bought Dri Dek tiles for the size of the cockpit, cut them to size so they don?t move around and eliminated the wet feet problem.

[Tim Gardner]

Hey, Roger, I did the same for my 19II.  Great minds!
TG

While it may not looks a salty as a traditional teak grate, they don't need refinishing, drain better and can be washed in the dishwasher!

[birdwatcher]

Hey Roger, could you post a photo of your tile grate, love to see it. Thanks Randy