Floatation Foam

When you are wrong you are wrong. I admit it this time. Beau has been really trying to get me to put floatation foam in my boat. Every time I add anything to the boat the first thing on my mind is, "More weight. Bad." Foam doesn't weigh much, but it does add weight. The other thing that I think about with the foam thing is the production boats that I have seen that have water intrusion. The closed celled foam is water resistant, but not water proof. If it sits submerged for an extended period it is going to soak up water, and water weighs a lot. Further, I like the idea of knowing that I can access all areas of the inside of my hull if I need to.

Seth Vernon, of Double Haul Guide Service here in Wilmington, happened to be in the shop putting some sweat equity into the painting of his boat, and he checked out my build. He adamently agreed with Beau that I needed to fill some of the forward compartments with foam in order to dampen the sound of things like water slapping the side of the hull. So, I bit the bullet and did it. It isn't adding as much labor time as I thought, and not too much more cash either. The foam came from US Composites, and was only 65 bucks per 1.8 gallons. I ended up getting two 1.8 gallon kits. Once dried, the foam cuts pretty easily.

Here are the foamed compartments. The left side is where the boat has expanded and cured. The right side is where I have shaven it back down to be even with the stringers. You can't see it in the picture, but there is also foam in the next compartment forward of the yellow bulkheaded.

Stuff I have ordered in the past week: 

- New Roll of Glass

- More Epoxy (I have used about 11 gallons of epoxy resin and 3 gallons of polyester resin so far) 

- Fuel Tank (15 gallon), hoses for the tank, and fill cap

- Pop-up stainless cleats

- Side Mount Yamaha controls

- Foam 

Still have a few major purchases ahead, but once they are taken care of I will be on the home stretch, from an expense standpoing. Those include: paint, fairing compound, sandpaper (yes, this is actually going to be considered a major expense), labor for fairing, poling platform, leaning post, push pole, steering system, and Luke's fee for wiring.