If it's added buoyancy your trying to achieve you may want to look at
the inflatable
bags that are installed on the "OPTIMIST" sailing dinghy.
They are installed forward of the midship thwart along the inside rail of
the boat.
Granted the OPTIMIST is a tiny boat but maybe you could double up the
number
of bags.
They are collapsible so when you're not using them they can be deflated to
give you
more interior space.
I'm not sure who makes the bags but they should be no problem to
locate.
the INTERNATIONAL OPTIMIST is the largest one design sailboat class in
the
world.
Good Luck
Mark Escovedo
'Chunky Dory"
M17 F/D #103
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 8:12
AM
Subject: Re: M_Boats: floatation ring
Hi,
I checked into this for my 7' Fatty Knees dinghy
also. IIRC, the first
place I checked (Add-a-Bouy?) didn't make them
anymore or was out of
business. Then I got a link for another place,
that I can't remember,
but that had a name that had something to do with
"doggie." I let that
go because it was going to be prohibitively
expensive ($400? $700? it
was so expensive I immediately put
it out of mind).
I also considered the fender idea that Howard
describes, but I don't
have that many small fenders, so it had the
disadvantage of being a bit
on the pricey side - unless you already have
all the fenders and need a
place to store them ;-) They're also
slightly heavy. That idea still
lurks as an option though.
The idea
I'm working on now (still in progress) involves two large
"pool noodles"
-- the brightly-colored foam tubes kids play with. This
spring
Wal-Mart had some extra-fat ones for $5 apiece. I bought a
couple
and immediately rigged them up temporarily, just to try them
out, one just
under each gunwale the length of the boat. They're
hollow, so you can run
ropes through the middle.
The added flotation was amazing. As in,
you could just about stand on
the gunwales without tipping the dinghy or
filling it with water.
The next thing I did was buy a couple of feet of
clear hose and cut it
into ~6" lengths, which I jam fit into all the ends,
to reinforce them.
At this point you could use them as is, with
perhaps one strap-eye
mounted below the middle section, to keep them from
riding up. I
haven't gotten this far yet. Since I have some
Sunbrella-type scraps,
I'm considering sewing some sleeves for them which
would incorporate a
couple of tie down points. We'll see. This
project is going
hand-in-hand with the one where I'm just adding a smaller
gunwale pad
for everyday use. I envision the noodles for snorkeling
and/or heavy
loads in rough weather.
Were you thinking of this for
your M-15 or for a dinghy?
FWIW --- Rachel
Former owner, M-17
#334
Former owner, M-15 #517
Currently cruising on Westsail 32
#412
On Thursday, November 6, 2003, at 03:32 AM, Howard Audsley
wrote:
> The "poor mans" version of this is to make your own out of
a set of
> those
> hollow center boat bumpers. Pick the size you
want. Just string them
> together like popcorn at Christmas. You can use
eye bolts along the
> gunnels
> to hold them up. They float and
act as bumpers to hold the hard dingy
> off
> the
mothership.
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