Water In Pontoons

[Ryan]

For those of us that have foam in the toons; has anyone ever wondered if that stuff is absorbant [sp]. In other words once water has been in them once did the foam suck up some moisture and weight the boat down any? Just a thought. I bought my first boat this year a few months back; a 22' G3 w/ a 115 4 stroke Yamaha, after the first trip out I had about 3 gallons drain from one toon and none from the other. I took it back and they just replaced that toon rather than test and repair it. I thought that was odd but liked it simply for the fact of the G3 'U' logs have a long foam log in them and wondered about the waters effect on them? Oh and the factory plastic plugs suck, lol. They glue them in and tighten them tell they strip the allen out of the center, thier torque spec I assume; lol. I replaced them with SS 3/8" pipe plugs and regular ol black RTV sealant like I use building race engines.

Ryan

[dockholiday]

Not sure what the foam material they use but would think something along the lines of styrofoam. Guess we all have seen discarded or lost coolers floating. Anyway thinking something light weight and would displace water as opposed to absorbing it. Actually have been rethinking the foam inside the logs, since I ripped the end cap from the toon a few years ago. Sure would have come in handy that day
doc

[Ron Burgundy]

I also have thought about adding foam to my logs. Is that something that can be done to existing toons, or do they have to be specially constructed?

[GregF]

I have seen enough foam waterlogged in the hulls of boats to say, yes it does absorb water. It won't usually absorb enough to allow the boat to sink but they certainly get a lot heavier.
My buddy got a 23' Rabalo real cheap because it had gained about 300-400 pounds in the foam. He ended up cutting out the floor, removing the foam and putting in a new floor. Water squished out of the foam.

[Ron Burgundy]

Well that sounds pretty shitty.

[badmoonrising]

Yep the first Carolina Skiff boats were called "sponge boats" because they used open cell foam. Later on, they switched to closed cell which does not absorb water.

My Starcraft has styrofoam blocks under the deck, they are 43 years old and are still dry as a bone. All I had to do for the restoration was clean and reinstall them.