[Public-list] MY 1968 pre liner bilge

[Mike Lehman]

Here's a personal experience I had with a foam-filled boat. You know how 
they advertise Boston Whalers to be unsinkable because they are foam filled? 
Remember seeing the ads where they cut a boat into thirds and all the pieces 
still float? (I'm not sure why that attracts anyone to buy the boat - I 
would never cut my boat into thirds!) What does happen, I found out, was if 
water gets into the hull and foam the boat becomes very, very heavy. Ah! But 
you say, the foam is closed-cell and doesn't absorb water!! While this may 
be true intially, after a few freeze-thaw cycles, I have found that the foam 
becomes absorbant and acts like a huge sponge. I wrote to the Boston Whaler 
folks and they sent me a complete set of printed instructions on how to fix 
the problem (think this has ever happened to anyone else?). The instructions 
started out by flipping my 17' Whaler over and cutting out large sections of 
the hull so I could dig all of the water-laden foam out...I sold the boat. 
They buyer was told that the foam had become water logged and replied: "No 
problem, a lot of them have that".

Just a word of caution from a personal experience.



Mike Lehman
"Gilleleje" #505

~~~_/)_/) ~_/) ~~





----Original Message Follows----
From: "Matthew Hay" <haymatthew_ at hotmail.com>
Reply-To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all <public-list at alberg30.org>
To: public-list at alberg30.org
Subject: [Public-list] MY 1968 pre liner bilge
Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 00:08:54 -0400

Bill,
When I had my engine out in my 1968 pre liner bilge i also had about a foot 
of silica type sand stuff in the bottom of the bilge in the V shaped 
section.  I did not have any sort of covering of fiberglass or any material 
over the sand.  I just had smelly oily sand.  Perhaps in an attempt to seal 
off the oily bilge smell or some other reason? someone poured a new floor 
over the sandy stuff??  In my 1968 boat the bilge under the engine and the 
small bilges under the cabin sole are not connected.  They are sealed of  
with a wooded wall between the engine bilge and the smaller bilges.  With a 
drain hole cut so any water in the forward bilge (or sand) is washed back 
into the maine engine bilge.
Why would you want to fill your bilge up with expanding foam?  In my 
experience expanding foam in an out doors type application when left on its 
own and not protected from water etc. turns dark orangeish brown and starts 
to deteriorate.  Perhaps you should just wait until you can take your engine 
out sometime and then just clean out your bilge.   I would rather clean sand 
out of a bilge then expanding foam.  Also think of your re-sale value and 
trying to explain to someone that you filled the bilge with expanding foam.  
The floor over the sand does not make any sense to me.  I do not believe the 
sand to be functional since I found tools and bolts way down at the bottom 
of the bilge under all the sand.  Meaning that it collected somehow over 
time.  Your bilge is basically just the entire inside of your keel which is 
very solid fiberglass.  Maybe the missing section of the false floor is not 
really an issue?
I hope this helps some,
Matthew #314 1968  "Renard"

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