I need to put some flotation in a kayak I'm building. Once installed
it will be difficult to access so it needs to be permanent. Any
suggestions for a simple inexpensive solution?? Something I might pick
up at Home Depot for example??

Dick R.
Wilmington,NC

Dick Robertson wrote:

I need to put some flotation in a kayak I'm building. Once installed
it will be difficult to access so it needs to be permanent. Any
suggestions for a simple inexpensive solution?? Something I might pick
up at Home Depot for example??

Dick R.

I am the champion of pop bottles. They can be used for any purpose:

If you put a pinch of baking soda and a drop or two of vinegar in a
2 L pop bottle and close the lid before you shake it, it will go
hard and stay that way for quite some time (years?). A few stuffed
in the ends of the boat will do as you require. An occasional press
with a finger tip will confirm their integrity. Even holed, they
would provide floatation. I would consider restraining them fore and
aft with string, or fishnet bags fixed through some internal
fitting, screw eye, eye bolt or even a string hole.

Lightweight, cheap, available, dependable.

If you ever get washed out to sea and marooned adrift, you would
have several resources aboard: reuseable water containers, funnels,
message bottles, fishnet, string, all essential in Neptune's back
yard. Just to be on the safe side, include a pencil and some paper
in one of the bottles, and some c-rations, trail mix or painkillers
in another, or medicinal rum.

Having lost your paddle, pop bottles would be useful as rowing aids.
You might want to be able to release them from inside the boat.

You do carry an umbrella so you can sail your kayak or shelter from
the hail? If the hail comes down frozen, use the seat back cushion
to protect your head. You could make an umbrella from pop bottles
and 'celluloid' tape, which also serves as excellant string or
patches in a pinch.

Laughs for all!

Terry K

a sealed bulkhead is it's own floatation.

othewise look for something which can be removed in case of repairs or
getting something lost in there, like your GPS or car keys. I think that
would rule out liquid foam. The "closed cell" blue or pink rigid foam
insulation can be used, or like the fellow wrote, empty plastic bottles.

Dick Robertson ) writes:
I need to put some flotation in a kayak I'm building. Once installed
it will be difficult to access so it needs to be permanent. Any
suggestions for a simple inexpensive solution?? Something I might pick
up at Home Depot for example??

Dick R.
Wilmington,NC


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On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 13:08:01 GMT, Dick Robertson
wrote:

I need to put some flotation in a kayak I'm building. Once installed
it will be difficult to access so it needs to be permanent. Any
suggestions for a simple inexpensive solution?? Something I might pick
up at Home Depot for example??

Dick R.
Wilmington,NC

plastic bottles, sealed with caulk.

Brian W

Dick Robertson wrote:
I need to put some flotation in a kayak I'm building. Once installed
it will be difficult to access so it needs to be permanent. Any
suggestions for a simple inexpensive solution?? Something I might pick
up at Home Depot for example??

The two best options for kayaks are bulkheads and flotation bags. There
are very good reasons why the majority of kayak builders use one or the
other.

You DO NOT want sealed air compartments without access hatches of some
sort, as thermal expansion can easily implode or explode a typical kayak
hull. It's imperative that you be able to vent any compartments.
Bulkheads with hatches add a lot of utility to a kayak, anyway.

You don't want to install foam that cannot be readily removed, either.
Water will get in between it and the hull and eventually work its way
through the epoxy and into the wood. Float bags can be easily removed to
allow the boat to dry.

It's also important that the boat have adequate floatation. In a typical
sea kayak with bulkheads, ~50% of the volume of the boat is floatation.
The skimpy foam pillars seen in some recreational kayaks provide nowhere
near enough floatation. About all they're good for is to keep the kayak
on the surface, so recovery personnel know roughly where to look for
your body.

"Dick Robertson" wrote in message
...
I need to put some flotation in a kayak I'm building. Once installed
it will be difficult to access so it needs to be permanent. Any
suggestions for a simple inexpensive solution?? Something I might pick
up at Home Depot for example??

Dick R.
Wilmington,NC

Hello Dick I have used the plastic material with air pockets in it that is
used for packing fragile goods for shipping. Seems to work like a charm it
can be fit into awkward spaces.

Jim.J

On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 13:08:01 GMT, Dick Robertson
wrote:

I need to put some flotation in a kayak I'm building. Once installed
it will be difficult to access so it needs to be permanent. Any
suggestions for a simple inexpensive solution?? Something I might pick
up at Home Depot for example??

Anything on a boat that is hard to access will need to be accessed.




Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a


Does one child rape really change Strom Thurmond's lifetime record?
For better or worse?