# Flotation Foam



## FishCat (Jul 28, 2008)

I was looking into increasing the "floatability" of my pre-mod jon boat. However, from what I gather, foam would only make the boat heavier, not float higher. Is that correct? If the boat took on water, that's when the foam would kick in – to save it from sinking basically. Otherwise, it’s just more weight inside the boat. But I’ve read posts where people have added foam (liquid, Styrofoam, etc.). I’m just wondering what the real deal is. Can you make a jon boat float better? Thanks


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## Zum (Jul 28, 2008)

Your first statement IMO is right,it's there to stop the boat from sinking.
If you make your boat wider,lighter,it would drawl less water.Not sure if pontoons lift the boat out the water a bit or not,it would be more stable.


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## Sounds Good (Jul 28, 2008)

That's 100% correct. Foam inside a boat does nothing to help flotation unless the boat takes on water. Buoyancy of an object is determined by how much water the object displaces vs. its weight. The only way to make a boat float better is to increase the surface area in contact with the water, and/or reduce the weight of the boat and its gear. The point of flotation foam is to fill all the holes that would normally fill with water if the boat sinks, which results in more water being displaced.


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## FishCat (Jul 28, 2008)

Got it. Thanks fellas!


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## Captain Ahab (Jul 28, 2008)

Helium woudl make the boat lighter - fill it with balloons


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## SlimeTime (Jul 28, 2008)

Captain Ahab said:


> Helium woudl make the boat lighter - fill it with balloons


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## FishCat (Jul 28, 2008)

Where can I get marine grade balloons? Does Cabelas... Wait a minute. This doesn't sound right. How do I keep the balloons from floating out of my boat?


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## Waterwings (Jul 28, 2008)

FishCat said:


> Where can I get marine grade balloons? Does Cabelas... Wait a minute. This doesn't sound right. How do I keep the balloons from floating out of my boat?



Lots of cleats and string :wink:


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## Sounds Good (Jul 28, 2008)

It depends on how unstable your boat is and what you're willing to try, but here's an idea... You could always bolt some PVC pipe down each side of your boat, with the ends capped and glued, of course. You can get pipe or conduit clamps to do this. The trade off is that you'd have to drill holes in your hull below the water line, unless you could rig some system to clamp them to the gunwales or something. But just to give you an idea, a piece of 4" pipe that's 5 feet long would give you about 27 lbs of flotation. With one on each side, you'd have a total of 54 extra lbs of "lift". 6" PVC would be 43 lbs per 5 foot section. That much flotation should sturdy up a shaky boat.

Edit.. You could always fill the pipe with helium too!


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## WTL (Jul 29, 2008)

I know you were being facetious, but I almost want to try helium for XXXX and giggles. Its not like its an expensive gas. Its perfectly safe, just fill a buch of 2 liter bottles or something with it....

Wonder if we could figure how much helium it would take to raise a 500 lb boat's draft say, 2 inches and if its feasible. Would that affect top speed as well?


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## Waterwings (Jul 29, 2008)

All the balloons may create some wind drag and slow you a bit, lol. Post pics! 8)


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## Sounds Good (Jul 29, 2008)

Pics and a detailed report!

You could make all the area under the decks air tight and fill the space with helium! :lol:


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## Waterwings (Jul 29, 2008)

Sounds Good said:


> Pics and a detailed report!
> 
> You could make all the area under the decks air tight and fill the space with helium! :lol:




You'll know if you have a leak......................you're voice will sound a little strange, lol.


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## WTL (Jul 30, 2008)

Anybody here from the south? I seem to recall a few years back Mississippi state head football coach Jackie Sherrill accused his opponents of filling footballs with helium before they punted. We need more folks in the world like old Jackie.


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## Waterwings (Jul 30, 2008)

WTL said:


> Anybody here from the south? I seem to recall a few years back Mississippi state head football coach Jackie Sherrill *accused his opponents of filling footballs with helium before they punted.* We need more folks in the world like old Jackie.



That coach deserved a "Here's your Sign!" from Bill Engvall, lol.


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## Zum (Jul 30, 2008)

They did a show on "Mythbusters" about the helium filled footballs...turns out they don't go any futher,I think they may have gone shorter distances.


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## WTL (Jul 30, 2008)

Well, Jackie is one of ours, lol. 

Another story that has made the rounds for years was that before a game against the Texas Longhorns he brought a live bull into the lockerroom and personally castrated it right then and there with a knife in an attempt to fire his team up.


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## Waterwings (Jul 30, 2008)

WTL said:


> Well, Jackie is one of ours, lol.
> 
> Another story that has made the rounds for years was that before a game against the Texas Longhorns he brought a live bull into the lockerroom and personally castrated it right then and there with a knife in an attempt to fire his team up.



:shock: I bet the players were glad they were wearing cups, lol [-o<


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## ShadowWalker (Jul 31, 2008)

Some companies make flotation pods that are welded onto the back of the boat. I'm not sure how much flotation they actually add though.


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## FishCat (Jul 31, 2008)

This dude cut a bull's nuts off to get his guys pumped up? How'd they do that game?


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## hatch17 (Jul 31, 2008)

FishCat said:


> Where can I get marine grade balloons? Does Cabelas... Wait a minute. This doesn't sound right. How do I keep the balloons from floating out of my boat?



You could use this setup:


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## FishCat (Jul 31, 2008)

Sweet. It probably makes a nice fart noise too.


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## ShadowWalker (Jul 31, 2008)

Found a link to some by a pretty good company, or so I'm told.
https://www.fisherbeavertail.com/floatationpodsintro.html


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## WTL (Jul 31, 2008)

Hey, now that beavertail is a great idea. I can really see how that would ensure you get up on the plane with a heavy stern.


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## Waterwings (Jul 31, 2008)

That's a cool idea! 8)


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