The Bow Foam.

[blown428fe]

Why is this here and what does it help. If she sinks will it point straight up or what?

[YeLLowBoaT]

its to get in your way when you need ro replace the bow eye....
Its for floation and hold a bow tank in place.

[b's sanger]

Back in the day it was required.

[blown428fe]

[QUOTE=YeLLowBoaT]its to get in your way when you need ro replace the bow eye....
I drilled a hole in the top of the bow and sent some extensions in there with a swivel socket. Worked mint. Not one of my 3 kids could sneek in there.

[blown428fe]

Back in the day it was required.
For what?

[b's sanger]

For floatation. Can't remember if it only was for certain size boats though.

[Aluminum Squirt]

It's ugly and if its water logged, its heavy. I think there have been a couple of threads on it. I'd take it out and either leave it out or replace it with a couple of heavy duty intertubes. I've never sank my boat, but if it did, I think I'd want it to go straight down and stay there, not stay sort of neutrally boyant. It would skip along the bottom until it got wedged under a rock in a rapid, of couse I don't boat like most people and my boat hasn't been in more than 6' of water for years-Aluminum Squirt

[blown428fe]

I'd take it out and either leave it out or replace it with a couple of heavy duty intertubes.
And what is the point of this stuff? The whole god damn boat goes down or the nose stay up....... WHAT?

[blown428fe]

For floatation. Can't remember if it only was for certain size boats though.
Thanks , but whats going to float and if so how much? Dont mean too come across as a smart ass, but if shes going down why run all the foam?

[SmokinLowriderSS]

Thanks , but whats going to float and if so how much? Dont mean too come across as a smart ass, but if shes going down why run all the foam?
It's there for flotation if the boat sinks, to keep it from sinking to the bottom.
It is likely required (ar at least was) in case the boat sank, if the boat sank, the part(s) that remain floating are for now-former-boaters to hang on to to await rescue, in 1 location, more easilly locatable. Is kinda hard to find 3 or 4 people floating along in life jackets, is much easier for another boat to run one over too if not paying attention (I know, everyone you have seen on a lake/river pays rapt attention :rolleyes: ).
Whatever floatation matterial happens to be, it only needs to displace a couple hundred pounds worth of water for enough bouyancy to keep the boat at the surface. I don't recall where I read this, but even a 700 pound cast iron engine is not NEARLY that heavy when it is submerged underwater, and only arround a hundred pounds is required to lift it, to the surface. The entire fibreglass hull is almost neutral, as is the interior. Any wood interior framing is positive, even if it is sealed under fibreglass, like stringers.
From the USCG, as of 2003 revision Boatbuilder's handbook, Subpart F
Basic Flotation:
FEDERAL LAW
183.101 - Applicability
This subpart applies to monohull inboard boats, inboard/outdrive boats, and airboats less than 20 feet in length, except sailboats, canoes, kayaks, inflatable boats, submersibles, surface effect vessels, amphibious vessels, and raceboats.
183.105 - Quantity of flotation required
(a) Each boat must have enough flotation to keep any portion of the boat above the surface of the water when the boat has been submerged in calm, fresh water for at least 18 hours and loaded with:
(1) A weight that, when submerged, equals two-fifteenths of the persons capacity marked on the boat;
(2) A weight that, when submerged, equals 25 percent of the dead weight; and
(3) A weight in pounds that, when submerged, equals 62.4 times the volume in cubic feet of the two largest air chambers, if air chambers are used for flotation.
(b) For the purpose of this section, “dead weight” means the maximum weight capacity marked on the boat minus the persons capacity marked on the boat.

[SmokinLowriderSS]

http://www.uscgboating.org/regulations/regulations.htm

[jetboatjoe]

its to keep the front bow up if it was to sink most of the time they are water log and add lots of weight i would take it out and leave it out or if you wanted just put some tubes in

[Fire Water]

Does anyone make a floatation bag to put up in the bow. I used to do some whitewater kayaking and we used float bags to keep from loosing your boat. It looks like some people are using intertubes bot I don't think they're going to provide enough lift. If my boat goes under it is going down at the stern because that's where the weight is. If my bow is air tight it should hold enough air to keep the boat from sinking. I guess if it was really rough it could eventually loose enough traped air to go to the bottom. Aluminum Squirt and I were just discussing this the other day. I go to the mountains and run a couple of really deep lake 300-400 feet. Sure would hate to sink in one of those.

[olbiezer]

i had a 79 biesemeyer a few years ago and it had float bags under the bow.....dont know if they came with it or not ...they didnt hurt anything and so they stayed in there with me.......dont know where u would get them though.......west marine catalog maybe? :) :rollside:

[roostwear]

I've been thinking about this for the past couple weeks. My Stevens has foam panels glued to the inside of the hull and the underside of the deck. Looks like hell, and I doubt it's original. Took it in to the upholsterer Saturday, and after reading this thread and others about floatation foam, decided to strip it out and put a big inner tube under the deck for floatation. The interior will look a LOT better, and probably have better floatation.

[old rigger]

Back in the day it was required.
Still is required, any boat under 20 feet. That's why you'll find most builders that tool up a boat will make it at least 20 feet one inch.
You'll also find that many builders back in the day would fudge the measurement of their boats to avoid having to install the foam...until they got caught. :)
And, an outboard has to float level in the water once it's full of water where an inboard only has to float nose up! Go figure.
We used foam blocks, or foam made in a mold to fit the outline of the hull under the deck at Tahiti and Hawaiian. At Rogers we used bags filled with tiny styrofoam balls (what a fockin mess they were when a bag tore) At Advantage we used little bags or balls, like a flatter basketball. They had a fill stem just like a beach ball. When I was at Warlock, we didn't have any hull that small, so it was cake. I guess the coast gaurd figures that big boats don't sink.
Oh yeah, at Howard (when I was there) we used nothing at all, so if you got one of them, don't let it sink. :)

[Oldsquirt]

........We used foam blocks, or foam made in a mold to fit the outline of the hull under the deck at Tahiti and Hawaiian.
When I had to repair the bow eye on my old 74 Tahiti 18', that big block of foam was a godsend. Just pulled out the bow tank and seats, then slid that big foam block out. Made my repair and put the foam block back in. Piece of cake :). There were also foam blocks along each the side of the hull.
My Eliminator has large bags full of styrofoam packing "peanuts" stuffed up in front of the bulkhead. Since I will soon be replacing the front bulkhead, I'm not looking forward to getting all those bags, and inevitably, loose "peanuts", out of there.

[roostwear]

When I had to repair the bow eye on my old 74 Tahiti 18', that big block of foam was a godsend. Just pulled out the bow tank and seats, then slid that big foam block out. Made my repair and put the foam block back in. Piece of cake :). There were also foam blocks along each the side of the hull.
My Eliminator has large bags full of styrofoam packing "peanuts" stuffed up in front of the bulkhead. Since I will soon be replacing the front bulkhead, I'm not looking forward to getting all those bags, and inevitably, loose "peanuts", out of there.
Damn it. The foam blocks may be original? They're old and flaking like a bad case of dandruff, but I never would have figured it was like this from day 1.

[Fire Water]

Every now and then the ole noggin comes thru. I fish offshore quite a bit and one of the guys I fish with has a couple of vynil bean bag chairs that we throw into the aft corners of the boat to sit in on the 2-3 hour ride offshore. Best seat in the house. So the light bulb comes on and, hey those would work great up under the foredeck! Easily removeable, doesnt mater if you poke a hole, will confrom to the shape of the hull, and you can thow em out on the sandbar and have a righteous seat. :idea:

[kachina_labala]

this was a good thread from a while back
Floatation (http://www2.***boat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67247&highlight=Archimedes+Principle)

[SmokinLowriderSS]

When I replaced the kick panels under the dash of my Taylor last winter, the entire bow was filled with what LOOKED liker spray-in foam. Solid mass from side to side,and within about 2 inches of the deck. Thank god my bow eye is in great condition. :crossx:

[Sanger Jet]

I was told to remove all the spray in foam because it's prob. wet and the weight makes the bow ride wetter.....All I know is it's going to be a beaych

[Moose]

No Shnits, I use the 5'-6' foot 2" round noodle floats ( I got them at Toys-R-Us) in front of my boat. I just taped several bunches together and put them in front of the bulk head. If one noodle can keep me floating ( 6'-2" 290 ) I'm sure 75 of them can keep the boat from going to the bottom. Thing is, if I ever crash the boat and the front end splits open, it's going to look like a great big party favor :rollside: .
Moose

[old rigger]

moose, that's a great idea. I just built a regulation size floating water polo net for my daughters team and the plans I found called for kick paddles to be used at either end and then adjusted to float level. Screw that, I used 4 noodles on each end in the little compartments I built, and it worked perfectly. :)

[El Prosecutor]

No Shnits, I use the 5'-6' foot 2" round noodle floats ( I got them at Toys-R-Us) in front of my boat. I just taped several bunches together and put them in front of the bulk head. If one noodle can keep me floating ( 6'-2" 290 ) I'm sure 75 of them can keep the boat from going to the bottom. Thing is, if I ever crash the boat and the front end splits open, it's going to look like a great big party favor :rollside: .
Moose
Or a giant fiberglass pinata!! :p

[shaun]

I was thinking about using beach balls that where only blown up about 75% of the way. You can find 'LOT's' of them on ebay for like 10 bucks come with around 5-10 balls depending on what you find.
The water noodles sound like a good idea too, only problem is i've seen those things get water logged and also when they get old they make a huge mess! i guess all foam probably does this over time.. How much are those things, i tought i remember them being at least $5-10 each... installing a huge amount of them seams pricey!

[Dominator Scott]

My dads Sanger has that foam in the bow also. As far as I could tell it was all completely dry when I recarpted the the boat. Would the boat gain enough speed to justify the grief of cutting it all out or no?

[YeLLowBoaT]

I doubt it... its alot of work to clean all that foam out, I mean for what 1 maybe 2 mph... yeah thats a good trade for spending a day laying on your back cleaning that shit out.

[Dominator Scott]

I doubt it... its alot of work to clean all that foam out, I mean for what 1 maybe 2 mph... yeah thats a good trade for spending a day laying on your back cleaning that shit out.
Yeah that job looks like it would really suck!!! :yuk:

[ruggs]

Truck tire innertubes work well and are easily removable. Just don't over inflate them and distort the deck.

[loudpipessavelives]

when i took my foam out it looked like spray foam broken into a bunch of little peices and the mice had also gotten in there..... but the boat did sink twice before i got it and the bow stayed up the whole time and i would never take the flotation out of my boat seeing that it sits like 7 inches out of the water and even a small wake could sink it