Re: Corrrection to "How Much Flotation"

SolarFry@aol.com
Wed, 5 May 1999 10:03:32 EDT


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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In a message dated 5/4/99 6:52:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
david_kautz@hp.com writes:

Uh, er, I left out a critical word in the following paragraph in my
original message.

Sorry,
Dave Kautz

Question #2: If a boat had a lot of addtional flotation, particularly
low in the boat as in the bilges and under the cockpit floor (places
where Bernie is proposing to add it), could that make the boat MORE
prone to turtling and more difficult to right once inverted. It seems to
me that if the boat was on it's side and WATER was entering the cabin,
flotation in the bottom of the boat would actually _encourage_ the boat
to continue over into the inverted position whereupon the flotation
would make it very stable upside down.
>>

David:

Not more prone to go upside down. But, a lot harder to remain upright once
full of water. Somewhere, (who remembers where once a couple of weeks have
passed?) I read a treatise where discussion concluded that flotation should
be placed under gunwales (side decks) and not near bottom to encourage vessel
to recover. Like a ball with weight on bottom returns upright. Well maybe a
poor comparison but general idea...

So flotation placed high encourages upright flotation...

Best
Solar Fry
P19 # 1028, "Elusive Margin"
Pompano Beach, FL
Florida Weather: Temp 74 F
Partly Cloudy, wind NNE 15 - 20 MPH, Seas 4 - 6'