Bouyancy Foam

[Milton.Audas]

Guys - there have been several posts lamenting the fact that our beloved C-22 did not exit the factory with any bouyancy aid, such as foam, expanded polystyrene, etc. as do some other manufacturer's boats. There have been many posts outlining the potential design oportunities such as garden variety gate valves, loose volcano tubes, swinging keels, and other such hazards, not to mention submerged objects, which threaten the ability of a boat to stay above the water.

So, has anyone added bouyancy material to help the salvage crews should the unspeakable happen (and to allow a little more time for the crew to safely assemble and exit the wallowing boat) ?

I would be really interested in hearing your thoughts, what you did, how, approx. cost, any pitfalls or things to be aware of during the process, and the result.

cheers !!

 

[jfrench]

I have a post on here somewhere with a link to some heavy-walled vinyl bladders designed to store fresh water on boats. They are made in shapes to be fit in weird boat places like right up in the bow "V." I thought they would make a good temporary flotation for someone who only occasionally took their boat out into challenging conditions, and the rest of the time they could be deflated, rolled up, and out of the way. If you were going over-nighting, you could even use them for fresh water!

One cubic foot of air (or styrofoam) provides about 60 pounds of buoyancy. It shouldn't take too much to keep the nose of a 2500 pound boat poking up above water. A block 3.5 feet on each side would support the entire weight of the boat.

By the way, one inch of water falling on one acre of land weighs 110 tons. So, I guess it's a good thing that it doesn't all fall at once!

 

[watercolors II]

I have never seen larger sailboats than our trailerables advertised or come with installed floatation and they sail in much larger waters than we do.

Installed floatation might be a liability issue with some models of small boats and the advertising may be used to cover up that fact. I do not see in the factory literature about these models that you can order them without floatation.

My homeowners insurance policy covers my boat for $50.00 a year as long as I don’t put it in large waters such as the bay or the great lakes and they haven't requested some kind of floatation be installed.

Now, because I never hear of many of our boats sinking, I wouldn't give up the storage space.

Shit happens, many years ago on a canoeing trip, the strongest swimmer and the most experienced canoeist drowned when the weather turned bad!

 

[anchorclanker]

My 222 has 800 pounds of lead or iron keel with a remaining 1400 pounds of fiberglass and metal. It wouldn't surprise me if it took at least 1000 pounds of flotation to keep it buoyant or some 16 cu. ft. of space. Thats a lot of space to give up.

A better approach, at least on a larger boat, would be a watertight bulkhead to the V berth with a watertight door/hatchway. I believe the modern racers are cellular in construction, making many watertight compartments. Even broken in half they float.

I suppose it might be possible to make the berth access panels to the storage below deck, watertight hatches. That would add an enormous amount of flotation.

 

[FastOlson]

Not as uncommon as some might think

While not common on high-production trailer sailors, some builders have offered positive floatation in their boats. As other posters note, you need to calculate the amount that will float the boat and keep it level. Pretty straightforward math, once you figure out where the center of your boat's weight is, and that should be easy to ball park for a Cat 22.

Our '76 Ranger 20 (one of over 500 built by Ranger Boats in Washington state) had full foam floatation, and I even observed a couple of very-beered-up young guys once fill one up on a windy night. They just kept knocking it down with way too much sail up until it filled. They got towed in to the dock and pumped it out.

Actually, filling it was difficult because that design has a bridge deck, so that only limited water runs forward into the interior in a knockdown.
Amazing what you can do when you're drunk.

Ranger Boats built a whole line of dinghies, an 18, a 20 and a fin keel 24 -- all with full floatation. The larger sail boats were all designed by Ray Richards, NA/ME, a gifted designer.

You obviously give up some storage, but it's real nice 'insurance' to have.

 

[CaptDon01]

In the early C-22 days, some C-22's did have floatation, I think it was a factory option. Most posts over the years dealing with old boats with the floatation dealt with how do I get rid of this mess. We've been in some pretty rough conditions with our C-22 out in the Pacific. We've made some extended passages down into Mexico, up and down the coast, and crossing several times to Catalina Island. We pay attention to the weather, but we've still taken water over the cabin top several times. Exciting? Yes, but the thought of the boat sinking was never a concern. These boats will take a lot more than most us can. One thing I have done is to eliminate any through-hull penetrations below the waterline. I only had the galley sink to deal with on our MK-II version. I removed the ball valve, and patched the hole with good old WEST epoxy.

Don
"Y-Knot?"

 

[Andeleen]

CaptDon:do you have a fixed keel?

 

[jfrench]

I guess another type of flotation could be an inflatable life raft!

 

[CaptDon01]

Andeleen......Yes, our 2002 MK-II version has the Capri-22 wing keel. Our first C-22, (when we lived in the midwest), was a swing keel version, and I specifically didn't want another swing keel boat. The wing keel gives the boat the feel of a bigger heavier boat, extremely stable, and as I've said before, when it gets rough out there, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing I've got 6- 1/2" stainless steel bolts holding my keel to the bottom. Not to mention about zero maintenance, and no KLUNK!

Don