> While we are on the subject, what are some suggestions for type(s) of foam
> to use in bow and stern for permanent floatation??

This doesn't address Greg's question about foam specifically, but another thing to think about is in-cockpit foam flotation. (I'd be careful about using chemical foam in the bow and stern for a lot of reasons --- the stuff is nasty and you don't want to work in close spaces with it, and it expands as it cures, with the potential for blowing out your bow or stern as it sets up.) But in-cockpit flotation is another issue. In my composite VCP Pintail, I have a large carved minicell plug that I run forward to use as a footrest; it slides up and rests on the bulkhead and, in the Pintail's case, houses a footpump. It's in there semi-permanently. In my CLC North Bay, I have a similar arrangement of a minicell foam plug that slides into the forward area, forming a very comfortable footrest; it surrounds the bulkhead-mounted footpump in the NB, because the plug must be removed to vent the forward compartment using an access panel in the forward bulkhead. In the Pintail, I built an extremely comfortable back support out of pieces of minicell foam, fitting and glueing them in place up against the aft bulkhead, immediately behind the seat (very little storage room there anyway, so little practical loss). And then I foamed under and alongside the molded fiberglass seat using the hardware store expanding chemical foam. In the NB, I'm limited to another minicell foam plug as a backrest, again because of the bulkhead mounted access panel that I want to leave open to vent the aft compartment.

The advantage to foam and minicell in the cockpit is the obvious: it excludes water in the volume equation, and, coupled with watertight bulkheads and hatches (VCP hatches on the Pintail are essentially watertight "Tupperware" style seals --- no hatches on the NB), makes it easy to pump out a flooded boat, especially in a surf scenario or where you're practicing rescues and re-entries and rolls.

Jack Martin