Floatation advice for 14ft aluminum boat.

[cajuncook1]

Hey guys, looking to make a modification to my 1982 14ft Monarch Modified Vhull boat. I want to remove the floatation foam out of the middle bench and use it for storage, but I don’t want to sacrifice safety either. My aluminum boat is factory still.

– Is there a way to add floatation material to other areas of the boat to maintain safety? I am also going to add flooring to the bottom of the boat on top of the support ribs.

Thanks in advance for your advice and time.

David T.

[chinewalker]

Sure, add some foam blocks between the ribs when you lay the floor down. Leave room to allow for drainage at all rib weepholes. Only downside is that by moving the flotation lower, if the boat were to swamp, it may want to turn turtle…

[cajuncook1]

Thanks Chinewalker for information. When you say, want turtle, do you mean flip over?

[david-bartlett]

Yes! Turn turtle = upside down.

[Mumbles]

If you go with foam make sure to use the closed cell stuff and not the open cell foam. Open cell will absorb water like a sponge.

[pappy]

And eventually the foam will start to compress and shred with each little bump the boat hits, leaving little pieces of foam to travel back and plug up your drain hole.

[cajuncook1]

Pappy are you referring to open cell or closed cell foam??

[Steve A W]

I think Pappy is referring to the white bead board.
We’ve got a ’70s something Starcraft that has the bead board gone bad.
It is due for new floor boards, We’ll eventually get it all done.
Use the blue or pink insulation boards from the big box stores.
Good Luck with Your boat.

Steve A W

Member of the MOB chapter.
I live in Northwest Indiana

[cajuncook1]

Thanks Steve, that makes sense now.

Cheers

[Author]

Posts