To foam or not to foam..that is the question..

[RidgeRunner]

Originally Posted by tartuffe

I believe you need to check your math. Try hooking 5 noodles to your motor and tossing it in the water and tell me what will happen. That 200 pounds is based on the difference of the weight of water and the weight of a person for the same volume of water. In reality, you are probably only looking at 15 pounds of buoncy (sp?) per noodle.

I came up with 12.8 lbs based on the assumption that the noodle is solid 2 3/4" diameter x 5'long AND that seawater that the noodles will displace if submerged weights in at 64 lb/cu ft. I was going to post how he//a strong I must be when I can submerge one while swimming with my arm fully extended. LOL I know it will work, just funny math.
Destroyer, Ever consider making some limber holes to allow the water to drain from all compartments?

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by RidgeRunner

I came up with 12.8 lbs based on the assumption that the noodle is solid 2 3/4" diameter x 5'long AND that seawater that the noodles will displace if submerged weights in at 64 lb/cu ft. I was going to post how he//a strong I must be when I can submerge one while swimming with my arm fully extended. LOL I know it will work, just funny math.
Destroyer, Ever consider making some limber holes to allow the water to drain from all compartments?

It is, indeed, funny math. You have to conceptualize that water is buoyant and is actually pushing up on the foam. I think it's Newtons 2nd law that gives us the equations.. I'll have to look it up.

In all cases, Spareparts made the comment that he:

Originally Posted by spareparts

put drain holes in each compartment that feeds to the bilge. if you get water in an area, it will drain to the bilge and not puddle in any compartment.

I liked the idea so much that in one of my followup posts I said that

Originally Posted by destroyer

I like the idea of having each chamber able to drain into the bilge and get pumped overboard...

Truthfully I never knew they were called limber holes, but your idea is sound and exactly what I was planning to do. I plan on drilling 3/4" holes at the very bottom of each compartment and then cementing PVC pipe into the holes to make drains into the bilge area. If anyone has a reason to use a different size for the pipe I'd be greatful if they would tell me.

[macojoe]

WOW!! you guy are thinking way to much!! I had a 1974 V20 cuddy with a gill bracket on back with a 175 rude on there, we got hit by a 10 foot wave that filled the boat to the gunnles!! The boat never went any deeper then the gunnles that day!! it was a rough water day, and after 1 guy drove slow the other (me) bailed the water out till it was down to the floor, we made it home.
1974 had NO foam or anything! So I would not worry about all this noodle crap, get her done and go fishing!!

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by macojoe

Get her done and go fishing!!

Now THERE'S a man that has his priorities in order!!!

[tartuffe]

Gotcha Destroyer. You and I are on the same page. I'm going through the foam chronicles myself which is what drew me to your thread.

I'm kinda new around here so I'll just it.

[Destroyer]

Foaming complete.. after thinking about it and everything I just decided it was easier to foam, make it all watertight and (like MJ said) go fishing. Made a few improvements though... Foamed it completely up to the bottom of the deck , and, as shown in the last pic (sorry its a little dark) in the transom area we glassed from the splashwell to the transom to add a little extra strength to that area. (There's a gap of about an inch and a half on both sides of the splashwell that we filled with putty and then glassed over). Don't know why Wellcraft didn't do that when they made the boats... just seems like common sense. Oh well.....





Moving right along.... Next I have to add the hatch in the front area as previously discussed, get new rod boxes for the sides and install them and then start mounting things like the bimini, radar arch, antennas, engine, etc.

[reelapeelin]

...I'll hand it to ya, Destroyer!!...that's a lotta nice work you've done there...and in a relatively short period of time...yer gonna have a mighty tight V there when you get done!!...

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Foaming complete.. after thinking about it and everything I just decided it was easier to foam, make it all watertight and (like MJ said) go fishing. Made a few improvements though... Foamed it completely up to the bottom of the deck , and, as shown in the last pic (sorry its a little dark) in the transom area we glassed from the splashwell to the transom to add a little extra strength to that area. (There's a gap of about an inch and a half on both sides of the splashwell that we filled with putty and then glassed over). Don't know why Wellcraft didn't do that when they made the boats... just seems like common sense. Oh well.....





Moving right along.... Next I have to add the hatch in the front area as previously discussed, get new rod boxes for the sides and install them and then start mounting things like the bimini, radar arch, antennas, engine, etc.

Good for you - turning another good V boat into a great classic V boat.
Look foward to seeing the finished results.

[billfish16]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Foaming complete.. after thinking about it and everything I just decided it was easier to foam, make it all watertight and (like MJ said) go fishing. Made a few improvements though... Foamed it completely up to the bottom of the deck , and, as shown in the last pic (sorry its a little dark) in the transom area we glassed from the splashwell to the transom to add a little extra strength to that area. (There's a gap of about an inch and a half on both sides of the splashwell that we filled with putty and then glassed over). Don't know why Wellcraft didn't do that when they made the boats... just seems like common sense. Oh well.....





Moving right along.... Next I have to add the hatch in the front area as previously discussed, get new rod boxes for the sides and install them and then start mounting things like the bimini, radar arch, antennas, engine, etc.

Wow, nice job! Glad I came across this post. I am almost done replacing all of the stingers and bulkheads with 3/4” marine plywood,1708 and epoxy. I used a pourable to replace the transom. I’m starting to think about where I’m going to foam. My V20 was only foamed around the tank, not gonna do that! I was thinking about on the outboard side of the stringers (including the bow) then noticed that is where your V was foamed. Also thinking about making a storage locker under the deck between the gas tank and cabin.

Thanks for this thread!