Soda Bottles for Replacement Floatation

[Robin F]

Hi All, I just bought my first sailboat and I'm in the process of learning to sail. I bought a 1978 Macgregor Venture (I think) 22Ft. Every thing is there and the boat is in good condition with no soft spots and no damage to the swing keel bolt holes. I noticed that in the front hold that there are 2 large plastic lawn bags with styrofoam peanuts in them. It seems that the original foam has been removed. I would like to use part of that hold for storage and was thinking of replacing the huge bags of foam with 2 liter soda bottles that had the caps glued on and even using little water bottles to customize the fit. Has anyone ever tried this? I am not so concerned about sinking after I have some experience in sailing, but right now I am a novice in boating and it just gives me piece of mind. I know that some have used insulation boards from the hardware store as I've read in this forum. However, I am trying to do this on a budget.

Also, does anyone know where the battery is held for the running lights?

Thanks for the help.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

why not....

as long as the container holding the flotation is sealed, and the bottles cant escape, I think its OK.

but you don't want to roll, and find all the bottles pop to the surface while the boat heads towards davie jones locker...

you could also get some closed cell foam (insulation 4x8' sheets) from home depot and glue them in place... (but costs $)

 

[caguy]

I got some of the floatation foam blocks from the parking lot at Lowes for free. They use them to stack small utility trailers. The salesman in the parking lot told me to help myself.

 

[Robin F]

why not....

as long as the container holding the flotation is sealed, and the bottles cant escape, I think its OK.

but you don't want to roll, and find all the bottles pop to the surface while the boat heads towards davie jones locker...

you could also get some closed cell foam (insulation 4x8' sheets) from home depot and glue them in place... (but costs $)

Thanks Mr Bill. I was thinking about glueing the bottles together with a hot glue gun after they were in the hold.

 

[Robin F]

Thanks CaGuy, I will go by lowes and see what they have.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

of course, the glue (alone) will not hold them under the water in an open locker. only from shifting with no load.

now if you stuffed them in a mesh bag, and once the bag is crammed full, it can't fit thru the opening, fine.

stryofoam is a mess... and can be noisy. not sure if those bottles will be noisy, or if you care.

but I like the closed cell foam like pool noodles. /computer packing.

 

[rgranger]

I noticed that in the front hold that there are 2 large plastic lawn bags with styrofoam peanuts in them.

I went with the pink foam boards (Home Depot) but I have read many good things about packing peanuts in bags.

Why do you want to do all this work if you already have something that seems like it will work?

Fair winds and enjoy the boat.

 

[Retcoastie]

I used old oil jugs and antifreeze jugs. They are square and stack closer with less wasted space. 2-liter bottles will float but leave way too much space for water between them. You should try to find square jugs.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Another similar thread
http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=458772

If you use bottles or jugs, pick something lightweight. Some containers are unnecessarily heavy. Bags of foam peanuts get my vote for filling the most space without voids.

 

[Doug J]

I prefer closed cell foam, stuffed in areas I won't be using for storage.
Pool noodles are good to use, you can stuff them in hard to reach areas, and you can buy them cheap at Walmart.

I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I plan to stuff the mast with them.

 

[Robin F]

Doug91,great idea, I'll check out Wallmart. You could probably tie them into slightly larger bundles with zip tie straps for underneath the bow storage area.

 

[Robin F]

I went with the pink foam boards (Home Depot) but I have read many good things about packing peanuts in bags.

Why do you want to do all this work if you already have something that seems like it will work?

Fair winds and enjoy the boat.

Thanks Rgranger, I think i have 4 lawn bags full of peanuts stuffed into the bow storage area. I am not sure how many are in there because I can't get them out without opening the bags and emptying them. I was hoping to use that area for a little storage but still keep the floatation.

 

[yukonbob]

If you don't intend on removing anything you can always fill voids with low expansion foam. Floats, insulates and will hold everything in place, but if you want it out you have to cut it out with a knife. I imagine with the bottles it would only take a large can or two $20 ea.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

If you don't intend on removing anything you can always fill voids with low expansion foam. Floats, insulates and will hold everything in place, but if you want it out you have to cut it out with a knife. I imagine with the bottles it would only take a large can or two $20 ea.

until it gets wet, then it absorbs water and becomes heavy.

its open cell foam. works great once. (I have used this, mostly to hold together foam bloacks.)

 

[doehunter]

The Mac advertisement shows the boat staying upright when it sunk. I assume the original flotation was installed around the sides and up high. (would it stay up in rough water?)
If you go adding flotation in low spots, it seems you are making it more likely to flip.
Jim

 

[Bob McL]

The older boats (25-feet and less) with iron or iron/steel covered with glass swing keels had the floatation down in the lower areas - in the laz and forward below the V-berth. In the laz the floatation was larger blocks about 12x12x40" of closed cell blocks. In my boat there are broken pieces below the V-berth with air spaces between. A better arrangement would be pieces about 1-1/2" thick cut to shape and glued together in place under the berth as this would eliminate the spaces which would fill with water. All of the pictures I have seen of a swamped boat have been a "bare" boat, not loaded for anything other than a day cruise. I wonder what would have if Sumner's boat was swamped? (I hope we never find out) Would it float? Or would mine loaded for a week at Catalina?

 

[Sumner]

..... I wonder what would have if Sumner's boat was swamped? (I hope we never find out) Would it float? .

Would it float, actually I think it would more so than before. Consider for a minute the wood we have added that would help. On this trip we have about 7-8 5 gallon containers that have the snap on rings on the tops that then have screw in lids that are totally airtight. At lest 3 are empty at all times and the rest have food or trash in them, but still probably have enough air in them where they would be neutral buoyancy. The same with the 6 four gallon water containers and 2 seven gallon water containers on board. If they are all filled and the boat was swamped then they would also be buoyant. As we use them then there again there are more and more closed plastic containers full of air below. Way more than some soda bottles.

The 19 gallon fuel tank is the same. Full it is still lighter than the water it displaces and as it is emptied it would add buoyancy.

While the boat is floating these items and others do add weight to the boat and it now sits 2-3 inches deeper in the water. But if the boat were to fill then you have to consider if they actually weigh less than the water they displace.

Other than our tools and some can goods I'd say we are better off. I have not removed any foam from the boat and have actually added more.

I've added one bilge pump and have another to add to the starboard side.

Hopefully what I put forth above will never be tested ,

Sum

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

 

[Doug J]

Sum, did you replace the rubber seals for the ballast tank valve? I would think the top holes of the valve and the air release are below the water line, and if not completely sealed, water would come in there.

Have you done any improvements there to provide a better seal?

 

[Sumner]

Sum, did you replace the rubber seals for the ballast tank valve?..

I did install new seals top and bottom from BWY.

I also raise the inspection hole with a PVC fitting held in place with JB Weld and it is plugged with a screw-in PVC plug. It is now just under the top of the inspection hole.

Above is the fitting. Later I added more JB Weld, but it was working fine before I did that. Here is the fitting....

...before it was installed. The plug is not shown. I'm not crazy about showing this type of stuff as one has to be careful in what they are doing and understanding the consequences if they screw up.

I also have two hose clamps on the tube for the uphaul on the centerboard under the sink. They are indexed 180 from each other.

The above has given us a dry boat,

Sum

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

 

[walt]

Just an FYI to what Doug is referring to (only applies to water ballast).. in then attached drawings, the one to the right shows a hull under normal proper load - the ballast access hole is above the water line. The middle hull is heavily weighted putting the access hole below the water line - this could in theory swamp the boat unless of course the access hole is properly closed/sealed (the valve would also have to be open for this to happen). The third picture shows what Sumner did to eliminate the issue.

The picture on the left shows what I did - I put a dam around both the valve and the access holes.

FYI, I’ve also used JB epoxy (not the quick set) on the PVC fittings and it’s held up fine for four years now.