Has anyone added floatation to their Hunter 23?? I didn't think to much about it, until the other week when I ran hard aground during a race. Luckly it was a soft muddy bottom, but it could have been a nice big stomp. I thaught about spray in foam, but know its not very controlable and can bust up things as it expands. I am leaning more towards air bags or something like it, but how much volume would you need? I guess approx 2700 lbs of "Float", but how much volume of air is that????? Anyone out there done this yet? Thanks in advance for the info. Scott H23 "No Alibi"
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MIke B
flotation
I have seen this issue addressed on other sites, people have used those strofoam peanuts , air bladders, you name it, mostly here the talk has been of adding balast, check the aarchives, this is one of those topics that never seem to get settled , it boils down to what you are comportable with, stay away from the expanding foam, those blocks used for floating platforms would be my choice if i were going to do that, or maybe an inflatable air bladder, good luck Mike B
I have seen this issue addressed on other sites, people have used those strofoam peanuts , air bladders, you name it, mostly here the talk has been of adding balast, check the aarchives, this is one of those topics that never seem to get settled , it boils down to what you are comportable with, stay away from the expanding foam, those blocks used for floating platforms would be my choice if i were going to do that, or maybe an inflatable air bladder, good luck Mike B
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Ward Niffenegger
My Thoughts
Scott, Inflatable air bags is about the only viable option for what you want to accomplish. Expanding foam is a poor choice for the following reasons: It is permanent. ie, all space where it is used is now just a solid block. Expansion is very risky for damaging bulkheads etc. Assuming you don't want foam in the cabin where it shows, you are restricted to mainly the cockpit bilge which will only hold up the stern of the boat. Closed cell foam blocks have pretty much the same problems. An added problem will be getting enough foam stuffed into open areas to actually float the boat. Air bags. If I were going to do air bags, I would use compressed gas cylinders that would fill the bags if needed. This way you don't really lose all of the storage in the cockpit bilge and you have the option of putting collapsed bags in the forward berth. The bags would need to be made of fairly heavy and durable material so as not to puncture. Cylinders could be permanently mounted in the bilge and a safety deployment switch mechanism mounted in a convenient place. Bags mounted in the forward berth could be along the sidewalls and could even be covered with carpet or material to hide them. As for size of bags, I can tell you they would be BIG. Exactly how big, I can't tell you without doing the calculations. If you get serious about it I can do some number crunching to give you a better idea. Personally, I wouldn't spend the $$$. I would buy a 1st class inflatable dingy for abandoning ship and keep my insurance premiums paid. GOOD LUCK it is a very interesting concept. Ward
Scott, Inflatable air bags is about the only viable option for what you want to accomplish. Expanding foam is a poor choice for the following reasons: It is permanent. ie, all space where it is used is now just a solid block. Expansion is very risky for damaging bulkheads etc. Assuming you don't want foam in the cabin where it shows, you are restricted to mainly the cockpit bilge which will only hold up the stern of the boat. Closed cell foam blocks have pretty much the same problems. An added problem will be getting enough foam stuffed into open areas to actually float the boat. Air bags. If I were going to do air bags, I would use compressed gas cylinders that would fill the bags if needed. This way you don't really lose all of the storage in the cockpit bilge and you have the option of putting collapsed bags in the forward berth. The bags would need to be made of fairly heavy and durable material so as not to puncture. Cylinders could be permanently mounted in the bilge and a safety deployment switch mechanism mounted in a convenient place. Bags mounted in the forward berth could be along the sidewalls and could even be covered with carpet or material to hide them. As for size of bags, I can tell you they would be BIG. Exactly how big, I can't tell you without doing the calculations. If you get serious about it I can do some number crunching to give you a better idea. Personally, I wouldn't spend the $$$. I would buy a 1st class inflatable dingy for abandoning ship and keep my insurance premiums paid. GOOD LUCK it is a very interesting concept. Ward
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Greg Ketley
volume
To provide 2700 pounds of flotation you would need to displace an equal amount of water that weighs 2700 pounds. In seawater this would be about 42 cubic feet of floatation.
To provide 2700 pounds of flotation you would need to displace an equal amount of water that weighs 2700 pounds. In seawater this would be about 42 cubic feet of floatation.
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Scott Davis
Air Bags
Thanks for all the good info. I am leaning more towards air bags. Have you ever seen the air bags in a white water canoe. They are heavy duty and are formed in the shape of a boat. I was hoping to put the bags under the forward V-berth, chain locker, and across the back of the aft locker. I am not worried to much about this, but with my kids onboard as my crew on race weekends, its good to keep the boat floating. We race all year, so it gets cold/windy/nasty this time of year.
Thanks for all the good info. I am leaning more towards air bags. Have you ever seen the air bags in a white water canoe. They are heavy duty and are formed in the shape of a boat. I was hoping to put the bags under the forward V-berth, chain locker, and across the back of the aft locker. I am not worried to much about this, but with my kids onboard as my crew on race weekends, its good to keep the boat floating. We race all year, so it gets cold/windy/nasty this time of year.
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Jon Bastien
Hmmm...
...I don't know about adding inflatable flotation to a H23. It seems it would add too many components that will just take up space and get in the way. If you were to hit an obstruction and 'hole' your boat, whatever you hit is in shallow enough water to stand on until help arrives, and the water damage to the interior of a 23 may be worth totalling the boat anyway. As a creative solution with potential practical uses, this may work... A standard adult PFD will float a 250-pound person. Maybe you just need to keep a dozen extra PFD's aboard, for 3000 pounds of floatation? You could stuff one under the chain locker, two under the V-berth, two under each berth in the salon, two under the quarterberth (You can't use that storage area for anything else anyway), and the remainder in the cockpit lazarette. I would also keep about 6 in the space under the companionway, for the passengers. (Just think, if the Coast Guard ever boards your boat, you'll KNOW you have enough PFD's for everyone aboard!) Flotation cushions may be even better. Total cost for newfound safety and positive flotation: About $50. If it were me, I think I'd just keep a smaller number of PFD's handy (Wear them?), keep an 'abandon ship' bag near the companionway, keep the insurance premiums paid, and keep the boat simple- But that's just me. --Jon Bastien H25 'Adagio' (formerly a H23 owner)
...I don't know about adding inflatable flotation to a H23. It seems it would add too many components that will just take up space and get in the way. If you were to hit an obstruction and 'hole' your boat, whatever you hit is in shallow enough water to stand on until help arrives, and the water damage to the interior of a 23 may be worth totalling the boat anyway. As a creative solution with potential practical uses, this may work... A standard adult PFD will float a 250-pound person. Maybe you just need to keep a dozen extra PFD's aboard, for 3000 pounds of floatation? You could stuff one under the chain locker, two under the V-berth, two under each berth in the salon, two under the quarterberth (You can't use that storage area for anything else anyway), and the remainder in the cockpit lazarette. I would also keep about 6 in the space under the companionway, for the passengers. (Just think, if the Coast Guard ever boards your boat, you'll KNOW you have enough PFD's for everyone aboard!) Flotation cushions may be even better. Total cost for newfound safety and positive flotation: About $50. If it were me, I think I'd just keep a smaller number of PFD's handy (Wear them?), keep an 'abandon ship' bag near the companionway, keep the insurance premiums paid, and keep the boat simple- But that's just me. --Jon Bastien H25 'Adagio' (formerly a H23 owner)
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Steve Adores
Type II inherently bouyant PFD's give 15.5 lbs
USCG approved PFD's give 15.5 lbs of bouyancy. The garden variety human body provides nearly neutral bouyancy, the PFD gives enough extra flotation to provide about 2 inches of freeboard to the human mouth. 12 extra PFD's give 186 lbs of flotation.
USCG approved PFD's give 15.5 lbs of bouyancy. The garden variety human body provides nearly neutral bouyancy, the PFD gives enough extra flotation to provide about 2 inches of freeboard to the human mouth. 12 extra PFD's give 186 lbs of flotation.
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Jon Bastien
Oops...
Yeah, I didn't think about the bouyancy of the human body. Was an interesting thought, though... Good thing I keep that insurance premium paid! ;o) --Jon Bastien H25 'Adagio'
Yeah, I didn't think about the bouyancy of the human body. Was an interesting thought, though... Good thing I keep that insurance premium paid! ;o) --Jon Bastien H25 'Adagio'
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Nicholas
Here is a guy that's done it!
Hello! Hello! I haven't gotten around to adding floatation to my boat, but I was inspiered to do so by a homepage I had visited. I think it is called "Ted's Sailing page". http://sites.netscape.net/tedsailingpage/home.html He has provided great diagrams and all the equations to come up with how much floatation you would need. Some day I to will add this to my 1983 Hunter 19. Why? Why not? Cheap form of safty. Good luck, Nicholas
Hello! Hello! I haven't gotten around to adding floatation to my boat, but I was inspiered to do so by a homepage I had visited. I think it is called "Ted's Sailing page". http://sites.netscape.net/tedsailingpage/home.html He has provided great diagrams and all the equations to come up with how much floatation you would need. Some day I to will add this to my 1983 Hunter 19. Why? Why not? Cheap form of safty. Good luck, Nicholas
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