StarBoard Stops vignette on janice142

Home | The Boat | First Mate | Admiral | Guestbook

Date: 16 August 2015. StarBoard Stops.

© janice142

In my stash of stuff I have a few cubes of StarBoard. They have been tucked aside for a What If moment, and just today I discovered I needed them. The few I had on hand were just the ticket to solve a problem I had last year when BOB let me down off Horseshoe Beach. The Diagnosing a Blown Bearing article tells the tale of woe regarding BOB, my Volvo.

The Volvo died. I am now on the third engine in two years. Yes, my sanity is imperiled. And no, I will not ever do this again! The Kubota from Yanmar Tractor Parts should last me a lifetime. I am counting on that.

Horseshoe Beach is where the Volvo quit. It is on the west coast of Florida.

You see the seas started to kick up and I discovered a sad fact. The area above the bookcase contained DVDs all sorted in alphabetical order. Until the boat rocked really hard and they fell down. It is disconcerting (to say the least) to hear a crash and be unable to leave the helm to solve the issue.

I knew from that point on the shelf was a problem to be addressed. Fortunately I had the solution at hand.

StarBoard Primer

StarBoard (brand name) is a marine-grade polymer sheet made by King products. It is pronounced Star Board (two words). Basically it never rots. You screw it together. This is great stuff, and easy to cut too.

I use it when I want to prevent chafing. For instance on my new shelf I do not want the stainless hinge against the bulkhead. Thus I will have a slender piece of polymer as a cushion between the bulkhead and the hinge.

StarBoard comes in 4x8' sheets like plywood. It is also available in a variety of widths and cuts. If you have the room and purse, a full sheet is the least expensive way to go.

You will be able to find a use for it, guaranteed. And too, it is thin so could be slid under your mattress with ease.

On a boat it's not always what we want. Often the biggest concern is where to put the item. StarBoard is good to have on hand though not essential in my opinion. You can always buy more. If you are like me you probably will do so, and sooner than you might expect.

Starboard comes in a variety of thicknesses. It does float and yes, I have retrieved pieces from the water. I do keep my eyes open near trash dumpsters in boatyards as some folks throw away their scraps. Those find a new place aboard Seaweed, IF I spot the stuff first.

Affiliate link→

King Starboard Marine Lumber

Years ago I found some cubes of leftover StarBoard in a woodshop garbage pail. After retrieval I drilled a hole through each. Seven of them were tied together with a string. I stored them in my locker with the screws and bolts.

Finally just this week I figured a solution to the DVD's falling. By using three chunks of StarBoard I can prevent the red oak end from sliding out. That was the initial point of failure. I am hopeful by eliminating that point of failure, I have solved the problem. Time will tell if I am correct.

These are my DVD's on top of the bookcase:

Though I had them wedged in with the red oak side on the right, the shelf still failed. The little slot tracks of teak at the top that held the oak were not enough. The red oak slid forward and then fell. Crash!!! It was a mess, too. (The tracks are more visible in the next large picture, after the box.)

Side Note for the curious: That line keeps the DVDs in place, usually. It is the leftover string from a hooded sweatshirt/jacket. The slide clasp makes tightening the line a breeze.

Slide clasp keeps the line tight and DVDs in place.

The problem was when the waves kicked up the red oak slid out and then everything fell down. To solve that I installed StarBoard stops today. That is a fancy way of saying I screwed in three chunks of StarBoard.

One is at the top blocking the track so the wood can not slide forward. The second is at the bottom and braces the wood in place. I put a third near the bulkhead just in case the board decides to shift out back there. It cannot do so now. Knock teak.

And Scooby is very happy.

Scooby is an old favorite. He has been a Christmas tree ornament and now sits up in the corner peeking out at my galley. I like having something of visual interest wherever friends look. I confess that I take delight when friends notice something that has been here forever. Simple pleasures are among the best.

That is what I did today, along with a Job Creep that bit me on the transom. More on that, next.

Have you a stash of StarBoard?
It's spiffy stuff. Do you use the real-deal or make substitutions?

Regarding the Comments Section, found at the end of every article:

Before you type in each block be sure to hit the backspace key. Coding inserts a space in every box. Your email address will come back as malformed unless you remove that space. (You don't have to include your email address.)

The capcha is case sensitive.

COMMENTS:

© 2015, 2021, 2023

Categories: Boat Talk, Boats, Locations, Vignettes

Happy Books (and drunk advice) ~ Previous Post ... ... Next Post ~ Job Creep

Archive

The Archive holds a running list with synopsis of published articles, and links to same.

Aphorism Alert: You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try. Beverly Sills.

Contributions to my Cruising Kitty via

are always appreciated.

Every gift helps.

The Cruising Kitty is what boaters refer to as spending money. There's never enough aboard Seaweed!

I am also an Amazon Affiliate.

My Buddy, and his girlfriend...