My former dinky was an Achilles with a wood floor. Over time the cheezy
finish wore away and the wood started to deteriorate. I just sanded them
down and coat them with WEST System. A final coat of WEST with the white
pigment mixed in made it
look nice and protected it from UV. The new owner is still using it and it
still looks
pretty good. I considered replacing the wood panels with Starboard but it
seemed
like the expense wasn;t worth it. If your storage situation will allow it,
consider a RIB.

Doug
s/v Callista

wrote in message
oups.com...
Folks,

I'm replacing my West Marine dingy with a Hypalon model, probably from
Achilles.

I'm looking at the plywood floor version versus the high pressure
floor. My West Marine dink had the high pressure floor, which was
forever leaking air.

Any thoughts on the relative merits of plywood versus high pressure
floors?

We use this in the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Bermuda and Caribbean, as
tender and dive/snorkeling boat, for a couple of months a year. Kids
treated the former dingy very hard, but they are growing/off-to-college
so it's more a matter of my wife and myself, who need less speed and
are kinder to the boat. But it's nice to plane to head longish
distances for supplies.

TIA,

Jack, Seawind II "Voyager"