Foam

[NoBones]

I foamed between the stringers except the tank....
To me it is cheap insurance if the boat were to flip,
you will not sink!
You could put in 50 bilge pumps, but will still sink
if turned over!!
Just my 2¢ worth..

See ya. Ken

[SBD]

The simple answer is its the way the tank was designed to be installed in my particular boat. There is nothing to really tie the tank into that will survive the kind of beating a Nor Cal boat like mine will be subjected to.

My hull will be pounding into a NW swell that averages about 8 feet, with 2 feet of chop on top of that. I would rather replace it in 25 years, then have it come dislodged or be sweating a mechanical connection every time my boat is taking a beating.

[76Red18]

I welded 4" long pieces of 1 1/2" x 1/4" angle about every 8" around the top perimeter of the the tank and epoxy - glassed them to the sides of the tank coffin. Don't know if yours has a tank coffin, but if it does, its a method to think about. My tank will not move! If the tank ever has to be removed I'll just grind the glass; I hope so anyway [img]/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Blue_Heron]

The simple answer is its the way the tank was designed to be installed in my particular boat.

Well foam makes sense then. But why not coat the tank with coal tar epoxy or epoxy barrier coat before foaming it in? My first boat was a 17' Seasquirt. It had an aluminum tank that wasn't foamed in, but it sat on a flat deck in the bilge that regularly got wet. The tank failed due to crevice corrosion when the boat was about 10 years old. Sean, if you don't have another 30 years left in ya, you don't want to be digging that foam out ten years from now.

Ain't it funny how you ask a simple question around here and we all pile on with unsolicited opinions?

[SBD]

I will be coating it, foaming it, and then glassing over the foam and tabbing the tank to the stringers. There will be a drain on top of each corner of the tank that will take any water that bypasses the hatch into the bilge.

I will likely drown ab diving well before this set up rots.

[Mahi54]

What happens if the batteries go dead....the three bilge pumps producing 4800 gph with back-up alarms wont do you much good...If the foam is installed properly it should not be a problem ...although after looking at Blue Herons progress on the 25 and his attention to detail he probably knows best...

[uncleboo]

Ain't it funny how you ask a simple question around here and we all pile on with unsolicited opinions?

That's why I love this site. All the different opinions makes one think of other options. Hundreds of heads are better than one!

[SBD]

What happens if the batteries go dead....the three bilge pumps producing 4800 gph with back-up alarms wont do you much good...

Keep in mind that water bypassing the hatch will be measured in teaspoons not gallons, but regardless there is no consequnece. My bilge can be flooded and the boat will be fine.

In fact it is fairly common for the bilge on my model of boat to be converted to a live well for the commercial live halibut fishery. My boat used to be commercial boat as well, but the bilge was never converted.

[Mahi54]

Point well taken....I was not aware of that....Thanks

[SBD]

No worries...Radons are weird.