Hull foam

[Buildernot]

Restoring a 1960 Arkansas Traveler aluminum hull. Why is there foam under ther floor? And why do I need it?

 

[Grub54891]

It's there for your safety, and it deadens the sound of the water slapping on the hull. If you were to swamp the boat, it'll keep it floating till help arrives. If the foam is water logged, it will need to be replaced. You can drill some test holes in the foam , big enough to feel the foam in a few places and see if it's wet. And with an alum hull if its been leaking through rivet's or cracks, now is the best time to address that, with the foam out.

 

[Scott Danforth]

yep, to protect your butt when the boat sinks. it also adds integrity to many hulls

 

[redneck joe]

What they said, and welcome to the forum.

 

[ezmobee]

The idea is for your boat to end up like this in the event of a swamping:



Better than having it sink to the bottom like a rock. Us tin guys are using extruded polystyrene sheet foam when we replace the factory stuff. That's the pink (owens-corning), blue (dow) or green (lowe's brand) stuff. Not to be confused with expanded polystyrene which is the white stuff. The white will absorb water, the pink/blue/green will not.