Have to bring it up. That's an old idea. They used to sell (back in the late 60s and 70s) a system that could be retro-fit into any boat. It never did sell very well. Took up a LOT of space inside the hull and would wear in areas that were often sat on.
all small boats have flotation. My boat is about 11000 pounds. At say 8 pounds a gallon that's 1375 gallons. There are 7.4 gallons in a cubic foot. So 185 cubic feet of closed cell foam will float my boat. If I was going transatlantic a block of foam 6x6x5 will do the trick. So just fill the v berth half full and the quarter berth and the boat won't sink. Or you could use empty plastic water bottles . This sounds very realistic.
Not sure what you are talking about???
Our Nor'Sea 27 is a small boat but does NOT have positive flotation.And where do you store all of the other items that are REQUIRED to live?
all outboard powered boats under 20 feet must float level for 24 hours when totally swamped. If you need so much stuff you could tow a barge filled with your stuff. Better to lose your stuff than your boat and your life. I saw a boat once that added a second floor. What a mess that was.Not sure what you are talking about???
I think you are talking apples & oranges. I understand the boats under 20 foot rule. BUT, you were talking "crossing the Atlantic".
NOT something we would consider for more than a weekend.
Just finished reading Smeeton's book through the second capsize. True--they bailed the boat out both times using buckets [over a few days] b/c the pump(s) were repeatedly getting fouled by stuff in the water. He mentioned in particular the wet pulp of the paper from their books and from other paper goods. The doghouse was gone, but the cavity it left was successfully patched. Engine was partially submerged, so no chance there of using it to pump out water, etc. However, the buckets worked b/c there was no hole in the boat below the waterline, so no new water coming in. I see that there remain two distinct scenarios-- a sudden filling of the boat from a roll or somersault, but no damage through the hull; versus, a hole or leak somewhere with water entering rapidly. If the latter is detected early enough, I still propose that a battery of pumps with 4000+ GPH total capacity could keep the boat afloat long enough to find and plug the hole!
Jibes, are you by any chance talking about the 'Pilot II', an old wooden boat about 70' twin screw? Looks like he built a mother-in-law house behind the fly bridge deck?
I doubt that would work. Just a few thumbnail calculations here. A boat of, say, 16 GRT (Gross Registered Tonnes) has a total inside volume of about 45 cubic meters, equivalent to about 11,900 gallons of volume; so that would be the amount of water to fill it. A gallon of seawater weighs about 8.5 lbs; thus, only 25% of the volume of the boat could load on 3,000 gallons x 8.5 lb/gallon = 25,000 lbs of seawater. The boat would likely sink long before the inflated lifts could substantially restrict the flooded volume, if ever they could at all. In a sailboat 25% full of water, the water would probably be up to my knees if it were my boat. Notwithstanding All is Lost [where Redford was wading through waist-deep water] I'd be impressed (if not amazed) if it floated long at 25% flooded.
Did any of the Smeeten readers get who their young assistant was? He did a lot of the carpentry after the dog house was carried away.
John Guzzwell, a Canadian from British Columbia, famous for having a solo circumnavigation at age 29 in a wooden boat that he built named Trekka. Is there more?
That's an impressive list!!! I doubt I would have thought about putting the freshwater pump into service in that way. Obviously, one has to keep the engine running as long as possible there for the electrics.
