Soaked float tank foam

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Soaked float tank foam

Postby Hodmi » Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:33 pm

Well fellow DS'ers, I finally pulled Pegasus from the water and stared her major refit. She is in fairly good shape for a 47 year old boat.

One of the first things I did was to cut holes for 4" inspection ports in her side and bow float tanks. I knew there was some water in them but I was not prepared for the mess that I found.

The foam was wet. Not just damp, but completely water logged. I also dug out two mice nests (complete with piles of acorns) and one fair sized ant nest. The bow tank was also full of mud so I'd say one of the previous owners didn't bother putting in the drain plugs.

During the clean up I found that the kealson was full of sand. Since it looks like commercial sand, theory is that someone used sandbags as ballast and one broke open.

What a mess! If you haven't done so, I highly recommend taking a good look at your float tanks.

The good news is that by removing 40ish pounds of wet crap she'll probably sit on her lines again. I'm also planning on sanding the house paint (that looks like it was applied with a mop) off the hull and rebuilding the centreboard. I expect that will give me a couple of more knots when she goes back in the water.

Once I give the tanks some time to dry out Ill need to add new flotation foam. I'm thinking of using a pile of pool noodles. The foam has good boyancy and won't rot. They are also cheap to buy this time of year. As a bonus, if I start seeing bright pink foam in the bilge, I know I have a serious problem :wink:
Pegasus, DS1 Sail 2635, Hull 15035
Hodmi
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Re: Soaked float tank foam

Postby rnlivingston » Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:39 pm

Last year I went through the same process with Sail number 2444...about the same age as your Daysailer. I found the same thing...wet foam and rodent nests. I am also using pool noodles to refill the tanks. And I also checked the tanks for any cracks along the edges and repaired all that I found. As you found, the boat is definitely lighter and will be much more buoyant in the event of a capsize.

Good luck with the refit. It is very gratifying bringing an old boat back to life.
Roger Livingston
DS 6872
Mariner 4096
rnlivingston
 
Posts: 216
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:38 am
Location: Worcester, MA

Re: Soaked float tank foam

Postby Hodmi » Sun Aug 31, 2014 10:06 pm

Yeah, tomorrow in spending the day grinding out the cracks with the dremel. I'm hopeful that the stiffeners are sound, but I'm going to check a couple of spots while I'm at it.
Pegasus, DS1 Sail 2635, Hull 15035
Hodmi
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Ottawa, Ontario


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