How i built a fiberglass swim platform for Ciera 2855-gctid813632

[Hyperlite]

Let me state for the record that i do not have any fiberglass and very little woodworking experience. I have researched internet and have not found a single decent home made top mounted swim platform. There are may be couple of decent transom mounted ones, but most of the DIY stuff i have seen was not very impressive , so i have decided to give it a try and build one myself. The project seemed very exciting. The new ... well you know ho much they cost, but in hindsight I should have just bought one. The amount of work building one is overwhelming, but you get the bragging rights at the marina i guess

Anyway my friend helped me buy, cut and bring a giant piece of plywood ( first photo) and after that i was on my own. I bought all the fiberglass supplies and here we go.


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And the final result:












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[SKUA_28_Contessa]

Impressive!

[builderdude]

Looks great, Large platform, could put a picnic table on that thing :silly: want a larger one myself. Looks like you used a nonskid paint for the top surface, did you use epoxy for the lay up? I see your stainless supports underneath but how is the leading edge fastened to the boat, assuming there are some bolts in that area. Nice job!

[Hyperlite]

Thanks! Great questions, so for the build i used poly epoxy, i used up about 4 gallons, and going with regular epoxy would be way too expensive. I have researched it and if you do it right, poly works great, just need to soak up the plywood until it is fully saturated and only after you start putting down the mat. I use two layers of mat, i have no idea what kind, the guy at the fiberglass shop just told me use this and then use that, lolz

After the fiberglassing was done i used poly fill L26, works great with poly, you just keep filling and sanding until it looks decent.

Here is the thing, about the leading edge, there are 8 bolts there and 3M 5000 as well where bolts go. You just can not see them , they are hidden, Here is how: i did it in my moms garage ( i live in a condo so i can not do projects like that there) and the boat was 30 min drive from it, so once the platform was completed i brought it , put it on the boat, fastened it to the existing tiny swim platform, then bought 1 inch stainless tubes, flattened the ends, but they turned out to be a bit short, just about 1/2 inch. I then bought starboard and made mounting plates ( you can see them) to extend the length and give tubes better area to support platform. Each tube has two holes on each end, so yeah , i did drill the transom of course , not all the way through , but enough for the two 1 3/4 inch stainless screws. Fill the holes and around with 3M 5200 ( you use it everywhere !!! seal everything you can) and it holds great.

Here is the trick i came up with. I did not want any exposed hardware on the platform so i sunk all the bolts and after i put all the hardware including relocating the ladder( pain in the ass), I filled them with the same filler. And since the platform was not the exact shape, tons of gaps, i filled them with construction foam and on top with the same poly fill L26 filler.

And then sanded and sanded and sanded, then 3 coats of Interlux Prime Cote 2 part epoxy primer with sanding in between so no hardware is exposed on top.

For the paint i used Epifanes 2 part epoxy paint. Was a bit of a job finding the right shade to color match. Then 2 coats of paint and the last coat i masked the non skid area and mixed paint with non skid additive , masked it and did the non skid. Additive was cheap, i will see how it holds and if its not durable, a can always cover it with Kiwi Grip, but in real life the entire thing just look OEM.

Then i sealed the contact with the boat with SikaFlex.

Also, for the rub rail, it was impossible to find even online, but local West Marine was going out of business so i got the giant roll of the white Taco brand rub rail insert for 25 bucks))

[Guest]

Nice job! The paint job looks good too!

[green650]

Looks very nice!

How far does it extend past the original?

I want a 3' one for my 2859, it came with a 2' platform.

[flyman219]

Nice job! I went with Swim Platforms inc and just bought mine and installed it this spring. It was a great addition to my boat and I am really glad we did it. One thing you might consider is a vent or two in the deck to relieve the pressure if a wave catches the stern. Even in the marina we get waves that break through the vent on our top mounted swim platform.

Mike

[Hyperlite]

With respect to how long the platform is, the original i believe is about a foot or less and the new one is almost 4 feet, so it extends about 3 foot, but the total platform length is now almost 4 feet. Its been 2 month with it and it is simply amazing how convenient this thing is , plus i got the bragging rights))

Regarding the water relief holes, i did my research prior to building a platform and it seems that almost every platform manufacturer of the swim platforms says that water relief holes are pretty much purely cosmetic and do not really serve any function in actually relieving anything

For example from this manufacturer: http://www.myswimplatform.com/faqs-including-costs.html :

Vents?: Are vents necessary for water drainage or air pressure relief?

Answer: When we first started making platforms over ten years ago, we thought they needed vents. However, through first hand experience and customer feedback and comments from other manufactures, I am convinced that they are not necessary. Some customers like the look of them or use them for hand grabs so we offer them as an add on, but functionally they are not necessary.

[Ruffryder]

Very nice as usual!