Positive Foam Floatation

[JPM01100]

I am removing the positive foam from "Loose Lucy", my O'Day DS II.
Does removing the foam material negatively impact the structural integrity of the vessel?
The (styro)foam is disintegrating and leaving the transom in sm pellets when I open the drain plug, after sitting all winter out of the water the foam is soaking wet, wieghts a ton, it's a bear to remove via the inspection ports.
The online suggestions tell me to replace the old styrofoam with:
childrens noodles
empty 2ltr bottles with sealed caps

Fair Winds,

John McHugh

 

[centerline]

I am removing the positive foam from "Loose Lucy", my O'Day DS II.
Does removing the foam material negatively impact the structural integrity of the vessel?
The (styro)foam is disintegrating and leaving the transom in sm pellets when I open the drain plug, after sitting all winter out of the water the foam is soaking wet, wieghts a ton, it's a bear to remove via the inspection ports.
The online suggestions tell me to replace the old styrofoam with:
childrens noodles
empty 2ltr bottles with sealed caps

Fair Winds,

John McHugh

Removing the floatation does not impact the structural integrity of the hull either way.. it just allows it to be more negativly buoyant if it should swamp.

If you desire to rerain the buoyancy, the best way is to get some "quality" styrofoam like they use under docks/floats, as it does not soak up water and stays together better..
The cheap stuff most manufactures install/ed in their boats is NOT quality styrofoam....
Using bottles is questionable, as there is only so much space available, and the bottles take more space. The floaty noodles would work, but for the cost of them, good styrofoam is better..

 

[Sunbird22358]

The only problem will be getting the remains of the old stuff out and figuring how to get new stuff in. My suggestion is to replace the foam, the best way might be to use an expanding type foam that you can somehow inject in between hte hull and deck. Best placement would seem to be outboard of the cockpit up under the deck. (I guess to get it up there it would work best to flip the boat upside down first) The foam in the bow could be replaced with foam peanuts through an added inspection port in the forward bulkhead, or pour in some expanding foam there too (just be carefull not to over fill as it will limit access to replace the trailering/bow-eye if ever needed).

Pool Noodles are not as easy to get in there between hull and deck as it may seem (I tried!) and as already mentioned gets pricey!

Based on my boat, there isn't as much foam in there as you might think, but getting blocks of foam in there can really only be done by separating the hull and deck. Expanding foam injected through a few well-placed, added inspection ports might be the easiest solution.