Floatation

[Babyhewy]

I just purchased a fiberglass pontoon boat and when it’s in water it sits way low in water just two inches up and waves try to sink it I am trying to see how to raise it up and make it safe do would it be better to add a center section to crest floating or would it be better to fill pontoons with expanding foam as it is now I’m afraid it will go under if bilge pumps fail or the wind blows thank you for any help

 

[tpenfield]

:welcome:

I suspect that the pontoons are full of water, perhaps? Or is something else weighing it down?

Your best approach would be to remedy the problem.

 

[5150abf]

Agree, there is a lot of water somewhere that needs to be removed.

Never dealt with a fiberglass pontoon but I suspect your foam is waterlogged and needs to be removed.

This is a mono hull boat with a pontoon deck on it correct, called deck boat or does it actually have traditional pontoon made of glass?

 

[Babyhewy]

Yes it has a wood deck over a one piece pontoon and cross beams and there is so much water comes up on deck it fills pontoons and bilge pumps need to run they don’t leak so calm days work ok that’s why I was thinking about removing deck to replace and filling voids with expanding foam so they can’t fill with water but still thinking a third pontoon even made from other material might help it keep deck out of water am I thinking wrong thank you

 

[Grub54891]

The guys at the hunting shack acquired a fiberglass toon and we used it for fishing in Canada. When we got it the toons were full of wet foam, Removed it and stuffed it full with any type of foam we could get our hands on...Not recommended but it worked for us. We hauled it to Canada, assembled it and used it for several years, then left it with a sign saying, free to use or take! Could be still on the water...?
So yes, check the toons for wet foam, We had to cut a panel out of the top, and access the inside, then reseal it.

 

[NYBo]

Welcome to iBoats! :welcome:

It sounds like you have a tunnel hull boat, not a pontoon boat. At the least, you will need to cut access holes to assess the condition of foam.

 

[ahicks]

Regarding adding foam to what is there now, you are actually adding weight which is very likely going to make matters worse rather than better.

For a demo regarding this thought, take an empty bottle and place it in water, then mark or measure the waterline. Now, take the lid off the bottle, and add foam or any other type material you want to consider - as much or as little as you would like (it's your test right?). Now float the bottle and note the difference in the height of the waterline. There is no way on earth that bottle is going to weigh less than it did when empty, so there is no way on earth that waterline is going to be lower on the bottle.

Same story regarding adding foam to your pontoons.

 

[Babyhewy]

So if I have a tunnel hiull any ideas how to make it float and be safer I plan on taking deck off and it’s open on top of what I thought were pontoons and it looks like they have some rigid foam in there but not very much I was still thinking about a third tube under it to increase the buoyancy but I’m open to ideas

 

[tpenfield]

You should check to see if the 'tunnels' are water logged. If they are adding buoyancy in the middle is not going to help stability, and may make matters worse,

 

[Grub54891]

Could you get us some pics of the rig?

 

[ahicks]

So if I have a tunnel hiull any ideas how to make it float and be safer I plan on taking deck off and it’s open on top of what I thought were pontoons and it looks like they have some rigid foam in there but not very much I was still thinking about a third tube under it to increase the buoyancy but I’m open to ideas

The BEST plan would be to make sure it's as light as it was when it was built. That's going to involve removing at least some of the foam to see if you are water logged.

 

[Babyhewy]

Here are some pictures of the rig maybe you could tell me if what I have is a tunnel hull instead of pontoon but I’m thinking about adding a center tube I’m thinking the mire square inches to make it float would help it cause right now water is two inches below deck and it don’t take much for the deck to be wet and I’m having to run bilge pumps and they don’t keep up

 

[NYBo]

Pics aren't showing. Try again.

Regardless, there is something very wrong with your boat, most likely waterlogged flotation fam. The easiest solution is to remove and replace it with new rather than trying to add a center pontoon.

 

[Babyhewy]

I’m trying to post pictures but they say they are to big any ideas how to load them all I did was take it with phone and tried to upload.

If my foam is wayerlogged thats why why I was thinking about changing waterlogged plywood deck and while I have it off filling it with expanding foam so there is no void at all but it almost sounds as that’s not a good idea

 

[tpenfield]

There is a 'stickie' at the top of the forums with a guide on posting pictures.

You should reduce the 'size' of the pictures down to about 800 x 600 using your favorite photo editor and then they will upload.

 

[icwingman]

this sounds like it might be cheaper to get anothe boat and get rid of your headache

 

[5150abf]

I believe your issue is the "tubes" are foam filled now and they are water logged.

You would have access each "tube" and remove and replace all the foam.

My fishing boat had a similar situation, I pulled almost 400lbs of wet foam out of it , your boat being larger could have 1000lbs or more.

There are only 2 ways to increase buoyance, remove weight or increase the size of the hull, the latter isn't possible so the wet foam needs be removed.