WHERE DO I GET CLOSED CELL FOAM FROM.

[the_wanderer]

My brother in law is having difficulty in getting closed cell foam to fill the bouyancy tanks of his Albacore. Does anybody know where this can be obtained within reasonable distance of central Essex? Also does anybody have experience in the process of filling tanks with this product? All advice would be appreciated as he is determined to get me wet again this year! We are concerned that the tanks are leaking and we are very good at horizontal sailing!

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[Abigail]

We got the closed cell foam we used for lining the boat from Keeling rubber and plastics on 01902 404977 - don't know if they do the stuff you want but they were v helpful to us and v good value.

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[SilverBreeze]

Ahhh...something I know something about!

"...getting closed cell foam to fill the bouyancy tanks of his Albacore."

If he is talking about filling the tanks completely with a two-part mixed expanding foam, DON'T! He'll run the risk of blowing the boat apart as the foam mixes and expands. And, it will make future plywood repairs impossible.

Albacores, like most dinghy classes, rely on air tight buoyancy tanks to keep the boat afloat when capsized. But, the tanks can leak, as in your case. So, most dinghy classes require a quantity of positive buoyancy to keep the boat afloat (if awash) with a stated crew weight on board when the buoyancy tanks have been compromised.

For example, the 420 class requires 100kg of positive buoyancy in each side tank. Most dinghy builders achieve this by attaching quantities of expanded polystyrene foam (the white stuff used in packaging and building insulation) to the underside of the deck before joining the deck to the hull. The polystyrene is encased (shrink wrapped) in plastic to keep the loose beads at bay.

I'm guessing your Albacore has round plastic inspection hatches for each buoyancy tank. You might be able to poke pieces of polystyrene into each tank. You can get sheets of insulation board from any builders merchant, then cut to size. Messy, awkward, but possible. An alternative is to provide positive buoyancy in a different form: empty PET drink bottles with the caps screwed tight. Those big two litre plastic Coke or Ballygowan bottles are great, they will fit thru the inspection hatch and they displace a lot of water in the tanks. They bang about a bit, but if your sailing is for fun, who cares. And, a good way to recycle!

Better still, locate the leaks and repair with glass fibre tape and resin or epoxy.

Dinghy sailing is the best and the most fun way to learn sailing, IMHO!

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[vyv_cox]

Amen to this

PU foam, even two-pack mixtures bought from Glasplies, Strand, etc is NOT closed cell. Over a period of time it will absorb water and become useless. If blown inside existing buoyancy tanks it will effectively render the boat scrap. The single pack stuff bought in aerosols from builders' suppliers is even worse.

Add to this - it weighs quite a lot.

Polystyrenre foam is a far better option but it cannot be attached using polyester resins, which react with it. Use epoxy, which doesn't.

Best of all is air. Free, light and plentiful. Suggest you spend a bit of time leak-proofing the tanks, rather than trying to fill them with something else.

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[the_wanderer]

Many thanks for your advice. The boat, incidentally is GRP but I think the expanding foam will have the same devastating effect so I think Bruv will have to think again re. bouyancy. Also, thanks to other contributors to the solution of my question. It is amazing what you can learn from this website.

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