: If the seats are enclosed already (why else would you need inspection
: holes?) why bother with the expensive foam? You could just fill the
: enclosed areas with packing peanuts. It would take only a few minutes,
: there would be no problems from overexpansion of the foam, and probably no
: cost. Be sure you get the plastic "peanuts" and not the ones
: made from cornstarch that disintegrate in water.

: You can probably find plenty of places that will give you all you want for
: free.

: if the seat is not completely enclosed, you can get a cloth bag (waterproof
: or mesh -- it hardly matters) and stuff that with the packing peanuts.
: Lash the foam filled bag under the seats, and you have your flotation.

: the same can be done, a bit neater but a bit more expensively, by cutting
: pieces from a 1 or 2 inch thick foam building insualtion panels. You can
: get genuine Styrofoam brand (the blue boards) or the generic equivalent,
: but avoid the "bead" boards. They'll fall apart on ya unless you
: enclose them.

: A tube of a construction cement like "liquid nails" will allow you
: to stack several layers of theis material.

: For your live well or cooler, instead of expensive expanding foam, start with
: a cheap foam cooler from the local party-goods store. Build a box to
: tightly surround it out of your 1 inch or 2 inch thick foam panels,
: bonding the seams and edges with your construction adhesive. The box you
: build probably won't be watertight, but when you slip in the purchased
: foam cooler, it will serve as a seamless liner, and with the added inches
: of foam insulation it will keep things colder for a longer time. A few
: scraps of wood can be fashioned into a bracket to hold the foam cooler in
: place, or you can cut away a large section of the deck to install the
: cooler, and then replace that section as if it were a very large hatch.

: Take a look in the archives at the pictures Paul Stomski posted of the triple
: he constructed. You might get some ideas from his boat. He made his seats
: from minicell foam and made cockpits that could be covered with large
: flush hatches.

: if the seats are of minicell foam you hardly need to add more foam to them.
: They already are as bouyant as the stiffer foams.

: As for how much flotation you need, well that depends. But that is another
: story.

: PGJ

Hi Paul

Hey, some good ideas there. The seats are totally enclosed with plywood, then, fiberglassed and then painted. They sold Steve the little video with the boat, and we're building it " As Pictured." Glen-L calls for the seats to be plywood boxes, and filled with foam. I'm sure it's overkill with this little boat, but, that's what the video shows. I'm not sure why the inspection plates are there unless they want to open it up and see the foam. I can't imagine it, but, this IS California. ??? Since this is basically a one-man craft ( because we are both good sized boys ) I may include the foam Ice cooler up front. I checked around for the two-part foam and I couldn't believe the price. I found it here at Precision Plastics in Fresno and it was $54.48 for two 32 oz cans. Don't know how far that will go, but, it's pretty much half of what we have in the boat already. NOT!! I think the foam peanuts idea is a good one here. The sheet foam would work too, but, would probably cost more. Thanks for the ideas.

Rehd