: Hi all, this is my first post and I'm grateful to all who make this
: forum possible.

: These are my first attempts at building a Kayak. I'm building a SoF
: kayak designed by Dave Gentry, the Chuckanut 12. I'm also
: building a Yost SeeBee 13. I want to add flotation to these
: kayaks. Here are my questions.

: 1. Will styrofoam that can be purchased at my local lumber yard
: work? If not, what might work better. I don't want to use
: flotations bags, rather, I want to permanently attach these to
: the frames in the kayaks.

: 2. Where is the best place to locate the flotation. Closer to the
: stems and sterns or near the seating areas in the center of the
: kayaks?

: I suspect that adding flotation isn't really necessary, but one of
: these will be used my by 12 yoa grandson and my wife. They need
: as much stability as possible.

: Jim Adams
: KY- USA

Hi Jim,
1) Adding floatation won't make the kayak more stable. It's inside the boat, so is already part of the boat's stability equation.
2) Floatation is a must, as if the paddler goes in and wet-exits (has to get out of the boat and back in again), the kayak will fill with water without it. (The point of the floatation is to displace water.)
3) The reason float bags are preferred for SOF is that when water gets into the hull, the float bags can be deflated to allow the hull to dry. If you don't allow the hull to dry, stuff grows inside, and gets really gross (as well as damaging the boat.)

There have been discussions about this before on this forum, and float bags really are the best option. You can even make your own for a very low cost, using water-proof nylon with a heat-sensitive glue on one side.

StephenHJ