Stbd deck stringers

While I was deciding on a design to build, I had an opportunity to travel and look at quite a few boats of various designs. I would see if the owner would let me board and look around and ask questions about why he choose this design, what he liked and what he did not like.

One of the things I noticed and did not like on the Searunners I looked at, was the fact that the decks seemed a little spongy to me. Jim Brown mentioned this in his construction manual and cautioned against stiffening the deck by increasing the thickness of the plywood. This would add considerable weight to the boat.

I thought if I increased the structure under the deck, it would add stiffness to the deck. The plans call for stringers to be placed every 12 inches from the cabinside to the float. The fourth stringer would be a plywood join stringer like in the main hull.

I changed the stringer placement to every 9 inches and total weight increase was just two 1 X 2 stringers about 30 feet long on each side.

The difference in deck stiffness was incredible. There was no softness in the deck surface and I felt much more secure.

I know the above was not necessary for the safety of the boat or soundness of construction, but just to make me feel more secure. I like a firm deck beneath my feet.