Posted by Ed Vernon on January 15, 2003 at 06:59:09:
In Reply to: Re: foam floatation posted by JimM on January 15, 2003 at 06:06:32:
: I've never heard of putting the foam in separate watertight boxes. Why would you do that?
: It's important to pick foam that's made for the purpose. The stuff you buy at home improvement centers (one brand = "Great Stuff") is NOT acceptable! It's an open-cell foam, from what I understand, and I'm not sure it would stand up to oil that might find its way into the bilges. If you use true flotation foam, it should never get waterlogged, and won't break down. Then you don't need the extra weight of those boxes, and you can place the stuff wherever you want.
: To echo the previous post, be sure to put as much as possible up high under the gunwales and motor well. Compute your needs by estimating the total boat weight (including passengers & gear), compute how many cubic feet of water would weigh that much, add maybe 20% and that's the volume of foam you need. Foam weighs very little compared to water, so I think the 20% should cover it.