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West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
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I remember one turtle tale where the upside-down Potter floated with just the bow out of the water and the stern well submerged, but possibly the aft flotation had been removed.
A possible value of having floation on the cabin roof would be to aid righting an overturned boat, although I don't know how effective it would be. A previous owner of my boat installed cork squares on the overhead; perhaps for that purpose.
Harry
P14 #234
Mountain View, CA
>Robert:
>The question is - what is the purpose of the flotation? The stock foam that
>was in my P-15 did the job of keeping the boat afloat when fully swamped.
>Adding 100 lbs of flotation will displace about 14 gallons of water in a
>swamped boat. A swamped P-15 holds roughly 500+ gallons of water or 3500 lbs
>of water.
>If your intent is to make the P-15 self rescuable in the event of a swamping
>I would recommend filling every bit of unused space with some type of
>flotation. This is to get the gunwales above the water to be able to bail
>the boat out. Otherwise you have an unrecoverable boat that sits slightly
>higher in the water. If it floats with the nose down - great! you can pump
>it out as long as the hatch isn't under water. I don't think flotation on
>the cabin roof is practical, as that part is the only part that sticks out
>of the water when the boat is swamped.
>Annapolis Performance Sailing offers some nice flotation bags at reasonable
>prices. They are perfect for under the cockpit which is mostly unused space
>and where the water goes when you swamp it. It's also the hardest place to
>remove water from. You have to get the water out of there to get your boat
>back on the trailer. Check the winch and trailer capacity and figure how
>many gallons of water in your boat will make you exceed it.
>The best way to see this for yourself is to get some brave volunteer to
>swamp his P-15 in about 5-6 feet of calm water and find out how it floats
>and what it takes to get the thing out of the water. Then you'll have some
>idea of what is involved when you are a few miles offshore, alone with big
>waves.
>One thing I haven't considered in much detail, but is ripe for discussion,
>is to take a swamped P-15, turn it turtle and then blow air up under the
>boat into the cabin with the door on. This will displace water and it may
>float higher when un-turtled.
>
>Jim Nolan ex P-15; P-19 #426 Panache; Colorado (temperature today in
>60-70's, 4 feet of snow on ground, wind gusts 100+ mph)
>
>>From: Robert Skinner <robert@140.com>
>>To: HandyM2@aol.com
>>CC: wwpotter@tscnet.com
>>Subject: Re: Bow Bouyancy w/ styrofoam
>>Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2000 09:51:30 -0400
>>
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>> West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
>> dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
>> List hosted by www.tscnet.com
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>>HandyM2@aol.com wrote:
>> > << Another approach to bow buoyancy -- 1" styrofoam secured on top of
>>the
>> > cabin floor/bunks would provide about 100 lbs of floatation. >>
>> > Why not go for closed cell foam padding? Softer to the humans and will
>>not
>> > crumble under the loading of feet and bodys upon it.
>>
>>Michael -
>>
>>The closed cell flex foam is an interesting idea. I could cement it
>>to the top of some floorboards I plan to put in. On the other hand,
>>as I will be stowing gear in 1/2 of the cabin and sleeping in the
>>other, and stowing some gear in the sleeping area during the day, I
>>wonder how the foam would stand up -- let alone stay clean enuf to be
>>pleasant.
>>
>>Little Dipper has a fiberglass cabin floor. It is so weak in places
>>that I hesitate to step or kneel on it. Therefore, I am covering it
>>with 1/2" plywood, secured to the existing floor where it is strong
>>enough to hold screws. The foam could go between the fiberglass and
>>the plywood.
>>
>>Re. the already low headroom in the cabin: As I cannot sit up or
>>squat in the cabin now, not much loss...
>>
>>With the noodles below the floor and the foam in the sandwich, I would
>>have 80 + 100 lbs of floatation. The key question is -- is this
>>overkill?
>>
>>Any comments will be appreciated.
>>--
>>Robert Skinner, Rockville, Maryland
>>'87 Potter 15 HMS #1618 "Little Dipper"
>>
>
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