Dinghy flooring

[Captaink73]

Hi all.

I've got a Saturn SS 260 dinghy with a slated floor that came with my boat when I bought her a couple of years ago. It's not the most stable ride I've ever had but I like the size of it when it's rolled up and strapped down on deck. We don't use it very often (mostly the kids like to run around a bit) so I don't want to replace it, just improve it a bit. So I have a few questions.

1. I was pondering putting an inflatable floor in on top of or to replace the slated floor to give a little more of a solid base. Is this a good idea or even possible? It doesn't plane anyway and only has a 2.5hp motor.

2. We live in Florida. When I bought the mother ship it was included in the sale, so I don't have a bill of sale for it and I need to register it. How would I go about getting it registered without documentation? I'd hate to have the CG on my ass for a $5.50 registration.

3. I was also thinking about adding a couple of skegs to it for better tracking. Is it worth it?

[CaptTom]

I tried this with a similar dinghy: I cut a piece of plywood the shape of the floor, laid it in while deflated, and inflated around it. I actually had to make the bow a separate piece; the whole thing wouldn't fit in. And I ripped a 2x4 into shape for a sort of keel in the middle, thinking it would help with tracking and turning.

I only used it a few times before buying a new (used) dinghy, so I won't swear that it's a great solution, but it seemed a lot better than the slatted floor. You'd need a place to store it when the dinghy is rolled up.

[Captaink73]

Thanks Captain. I thought of that as well the storage part is kind of a turn off. I'll definitely keep it in mind though.

[hugosalt]

Did same as CaptTom on floor of old dink but used rigid (think 2") pink insulation cut to shape of floor from Home Depot instead of wood.
Was very stable when dink inflated around new floor, also floor was dry.
(made small cut out at transom to pump/sponge out water)
and stored under bunk.

[cgoing]

Generally speaking the external floor is cut differently on a slat floor model compared to a air or wood floor model. At least that is how most of the name brands do it such as Zodiac, Avon, and Mercury. So replacing the slat with an air floor will most likely be difficult. That being said you may be able to find an air floor from a slightly smaller boat that could drop in overtop.

[UNCIVILIZED]

I put a boogie board into the bottom of an $20 pool toy type dink, & it made an incredible difference. So you might try the same, using cheap foam, with a layer of glass cloth on it to prevent it from breaking down. But be sure that it fits snugly within the dink for best effect in terms of making it more RIB-like. And be sure to keep an eye on the dink where it's fabric floor meets the tubes, so as not to detach the floor from things.