Hull Flotation Foam

[SSMINNOWVA]

i hopeing some one can help me, my husband just removed all the Hull Flotation Foam from the boat. sealed the bottem of the boat with rubber seal he replace the Hull Flotation Foam with 2 sheets 1 inch stirafoam under the floor , is there a proublem with this ,she a 1962 19 ft duracraft with a 65 hp stinger moter

 

[PiratePast40]

Re: Hull Flotation Foam

One of the great features of the forum is the section at the bottom with thread topics that are related to yours. You'll see that the topic is discussed quite often and with differing opinions. It can get into some nasty arguments. Bottom line is that it's your boat and you can do whatever you like.

 

[oops!]

Re: Hull Flotation Foam

no....there is no problem with what he did.

in the early sixties.......the foam was used specificaly for emergency flotation.....that could be big chunks of styrofoam to just blocks thrown under the floor.

the reason for it was supposed to be that if the boat sank......it would still float, thusly...the passengers would have something to hang on to while waiting for rescue.

in the latter days of the eighties......boat builders found that foam could be a structural component of a boat.....so if your hubby was rebuilding say a 88 bayliner.....yes ....he would either have to reinforce the hull with fibreglass....or replace the pour in foam. the pour in foam is a structural component.

but ....again.....since the boat is older.....the hull is very thick.....much thicker than todays hulls.....that.....along with the short legnth of the boat.....will make it very strong without the proper pour in foam.

so boat in peace.

cheers
oops

 

[SSMINNOWVA]

Re: Hull Flotation Foam

thank you so much i was a bit worried.

 

[mrdancer]

Re: Hull Flotation Foam

It would be good to know if what he used was truly styrofoam (probably was). Most "styrofoam" products that we think of, like coffee cups and packing peanuts, are not styrofoam at all, but EPS (encapsulated polystyrene). Styrofoam is more commonly found in building/construction materials, such as the blue and white foam boards you can find at your local hardware store. These are better to use in the boat than the pink foam boards. Just don't use the EPS cups, packing peanuts, etc.

What's the difference? The better products will have more "closed-cell" structure that won't get waterlogged over time.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Hull Flotation Foam

There's no problem with what he did - but I wonder about the amount. EPS foam has a boyancy of approx 60 lb/cubic foot. If I assume he used 4x8' sheets of 1" thick EPS, that's 2.67 cf per board, or 160 lbs per board. He added 320 lbs of boyancy to the boat with 2 4x8' sheets. Half that if they were 2x8' sheets.It would be interesting to know how that compared to what was there originally.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Hull Flotation Foam

Lots of folks use swim "noodles" from the dollar store as flotation too. You'll see lots of pics/posts/threads of folks doing so in the Boat Restoration forum.

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: Hull Flotation Foam

I hope my wife doesn't learn how to use this forum...of course, if she does I hope you guys will have my back. ;-)