Re: Boat design/construction to include separate water tight compartments?

You gotta love Dale. This guy experiments with all sorts of engineering mods to his craft, and obviously understands the science behind. Reworked rudders, compartments on the footwell to reduce water intake, fixed skeg under the ski to reduce broaching in downwind runs. I recon the ski manufacturers should team up with the guy to help him experiment, I'm sure innovation would result.

Hey Rob, why don't you guys do a back to back flotation test. Fill some boats up and see if you can still paddle them. If you do it in fresh water, there won't be any salt left behind......

Stuart

This type of flotation bag would work if the ski had fore and aft inspection ports. I use these on a Greenland kayak which lacks bulkheads. www.nrsweb.com/shop/product_list.asp?deptid=1760
Just shove the bag thru the port and inflate via the tube which has a valve.

I was told that its not good to rinse the insides of the boat with fresh water. Don't ask me why.

Hey Rob, why don't you guys do a back to back flotation test. Fill some boats up and see if you can still paddle them. If you do it in fresh water, there won't be any salt left behind......

Not a bad idea except that I for one would be very reluctant to fill my boat up with water! It would be a long tedious business trying to get the water out again and i'd be worried that some would be left behind, absorbed into the foam stringer... (Ask any manufacturer it seems, and they'll tell you that their stringer doesn't absorb water while the opposition's stringer does!!)

From talking to guys who have been in situations where the ski has filled with water, there's about enough buoyancy to keep the thing on the surface, but not much more.

www.surfski.info/content/view/363/154/
www.surfski.info/content/view/146/154/

I can personally vouch for inflateable airbags. I always use 2 bags in the front/rear of my K1 lodged next to the foam blocks whenever I trip/race a "busy" river. The boat rides much higher in the water during a swim minimizing the risk of a wrap and the boat is easier to empty as well in the event that you have less than perfect footing on the bank. Bonus of the airbag is than it keeps my split spare paddle nicely in place in the back of the boat. The weight gain is really minimal. I'm sure it would be possible to design a tough vinyl type bag to fit a surfski. I have seen a few sit-in-side sea kayaks where the foam bulkhead has pulled away from the deck/sides over extended period of time, rendering it useless.

Potential problem with the air bag is that it might dislodge / break the stringer..

Ive never had the opportunity or misfortune to see the inside of my ski, so don't know how the stringer runs. Many float bags have tie down grommets to prevent migration. Again I don't know anything about the inside of a ski but seems that tie down points could be glued to the inside, or stick on rings like "lash-it".