Intro and sneakbox restoration

[RM Anderson]

Jody & Nate~


Insulation board fitted under the deck is a fine alternative. I used it on my second boat - imaginatively named 2-man grassboat. The board was white Styrofoam - this was in the mid-1980s - and tended to shed beads over time but otherwise provided peace-of-mind - especially as it was located up high in the vessel - a good place if the vessel ever swamped.

Later South Bay Duckboats used closed-cell flotation foam in bow and stern flotation chambers AND sprayed about 1.5 to 2 inches thick beneath the decks. For the latter, they sometimes applied a light skin of 'glass cloth to protect it from abrasion.

If I used insulation board today I might try the foil-faced isocyanate that I have beneath my shop floor.

All the best,

SJS

Steve's post made me think of the 1.5" pink foam board insulation that I use to to help keep my winter spear hole from freezing overnight. For durability, I had encapsulated the foam with 6oz cloth and epoxy resin. It has survived countless freeze/thaw cycles while floating on top of my spear hole and the humid conditions inside my heated spear house with no ill effect. My point in writing all this is perhaps the weak link is the two part foam or the need for encapsulation?
RM

 

[jode hillman]

Steve

I'm going to probe mine. But I may wait until after the season. My boats have been stored inside for much of their lives so I've got that going for me.

Storing the boat inside, mitigates a lot of this problem.

From those I have talked to

 

[Nate Hoyt]

The weak link is the cycling of the flotation chamber due to barometric pressure and temperature changes. A fillet will eventually crack. Once it does, every rain storm cools the hull which then sucks in humidity and/or rainwater which then condenses/puddles. Now the moisture and the foam have all the time in the world to get together in their own private swamp. A glass encapsulated piece of foam board isn’t generally stored in the driveway like boats commonly are; every night and day causes a cycle of contraction and expansion. This process is much, much worse for hulls stored outside. Even a boat stored just under a carport experiences less dramatic swings because it isn’t cooking in the sun.

Nate

 

[RM Anderson]

The weak link is the cycling of the flotation chamber due to barometric pressure and temperature changes. A fillet will eventually crack. Once it does, every rain storm cools the hull which then sucks in humidity and/or rainwater which then condenses/puddles. Now the moisture and the foam have all the time in the world to get together in their own private swamp. A glass encapsulated piece of foam board isn’t generally stored in the driveway like boats commonly are; every night and day causes a cycle of contraction and expansion. This process is much, much worse for hulls stored outside. Even a boat stored just under a carport experiences less dramatic swings because it isn’t cooking in the sun.

Nate

A shed with a tin roof gets pretty hot in the summer and humid as well. The point that I was trying to make is that the two part foam may be the culprit. My Kara Hummer has non encapsulated pink foam board beneath the plywood sole that is removable to dry things out. Never a problem but I am also not a "rode hard and put away" type person. Agreed, inside storage is preferable.
RM