Who's done a no foam refoam?

[Penken]

I installed no foam and a compressed air rope deployment system and on the end of the 200’ rope I have a red buoy. So when the ski sinks the rope deploys with the buoy at a preset water pressure then all you have to do is pull up the rope with the ski attached and drag it to the beach.

Mark44

if you would go that far. why not pack a lifeboat in your ski. so when it sinks the boat blows itself up and floats up to the surface with the ski inside it.

 

[SJBrit]

if you would go that far. why not pack a lifeboat in your ski. so when it sinks the boat blows itself up and floats up to the surface with the ski inside it.

I wonder how big a flotation bag would fit under the bond rail on either side, ready to be inflated based an water pressure by a compressed air cylinder...? I'm actually not kidding.

 

[Big Kahuna]

just create a fake scupper tube. Have it stored in there until it needs to deploy. But dont set it to shallow you may set it off doing a sub!

 

[sjetrider]

old man. After a ride or two you'll know your water ingress rate. Unless you do something to change that (bad crack), then it'll do what it does. If your tray cavity fills with water in a day of riding with or without foam then you have bigger issues that need to be fixed. Sounds like someone isn't confident with their reinforcing and sealing skillz :bad3:

let the hood come off in storm surf and see how bad you regret NO FOAM. 45 mins. to shore with foam or 2 mins. to the bottom without. Been there and even with 2 part foam the boat was only 8" above water in the rear (only foamed area) when it wasnt being pulled under by an 8 foot wave. Ask Luke Skywalker about NO FOAM.

 

[Waternut]

The stock foam in my ski was almost completely dry and I had a 6" crack all the way through the hull under the bondline. That's a 2003 ski and the crack has been there over a year. But, You do have a point and I may stick some ploystyrene in there and then foam it up to keep everything together. Hadn't really thought about that option. Or maybe some empty soda bottles - I saw someone on here did that and it's a great idea for long lasting flotation.

I was really only referring to the US composites foam. Polystyrene is really light, doesn't absorb water, and can be cut to shape the hull easily. I made the mistake of originally thinking the polystyrene was just lightweight filler to make the hull a couple pounds lighter than the closed cell foam. Was I ever unpleasantly surprised after my second ride when water came pouring out of my drain holes due to accidentally leaving the tiny drain plugs out.

 

[Speedfreak]

Doesn't anybody have insurance on their ski? If it sinks then you turn in a claim and get the cash to buy you another ski. $6500 is $28 a month. I have a $3200 ski with $6500 worth of insurance. So I am not worried in the least.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I don't use the 2lb crap for anything anymore,I have had nothing but problems with it, biggest problem is that it shrank and pulled my hood all out of shape in the process. The 4lb is much denser and will absorb and retain less water, it costs more but how many times do you really want to do this job ?

 

[Shonuff]

I'm pretty sure the Jersey guys were going the no-foam route in Pensacola last year.

 

[Waternut]

Doesn't anybody have insurance on their ski? If it sinks then you turn in a claim and get the cash to buy you another ski. $6500 is $28 a month. I have a $3200 ski with $6500 worth of insurance. So I am not worried in the least.

Wow!! I just did a quote on progressive.com. A couple years I looked and it was going to be like $60-$70 for basic coverage on a 92 kawi. Now it's a lot less with more coverage and a more expensive ski. I'll be giving this some serious consideration in the next couple days. I could've used it to cover my leg-gina over the weekend as well.

 

[Pacificcooler]

smashed my hood to pieces in lake michigan, and let me tell you.... GLAD I HAD FOAM! it ended completely vertical bobbing up and down, but never reached the bottom... that would suck! for you guys planning on not using foam you should least learn to ride two deep on your skis, it could be a lond swim back to shore!!!!!!

 

[skithis]

"Has anyone here or even your sister's friend's boyfriend's cousin ever heard of a catastrophic failure in the tray area? Not to my knowledge."

Yes, me. And I just ride flatwater with a stock superjet. Air Natique with 3000lbs of ballast =

 

[Pacificcooler]

put a hole in my tray with my heel. and of course no support under it

 

[Pacificcooler]

same spot as that pic

 

[skithis]

Yep...I came down and boom, my foot went straight through. It actually crushed a lot more than that in the pic. The turf was hiding a lot of spider cracks. I only weight 160 lbs. I rebuild the whole tray, installed footholds, reinforced the entire tray with glass/carbon, installed drainplugs, and polystyrene.

 

[XJCrawler]

When you guys cut your tray apart, whats the the best way of getting the tray to release from the glue by the pump area

 

[vitaly]

Adrian, do the sheets like Matt is talking about. You got to have some floatation in there.

Nah... just get a good fish finder like Luke did.

BTW, the soda is about a dollar per liter now. Those empty bottles are getting expensive.

 

[Sanoman]

This might have already been addressed,but l can't find.lf you put the sheet foam in,would you go ahead and pour some 2 part foam in between to fill any voids? Keeping in mind not to let any get down to the lowest parts to still allow drainedge.

 

[chad]

I wouldnt

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I'm pretty sure the Jersey guys were going the no-foam route in Pensacola last year.

Something about that did not turn out as planned, however he did pull off the longest sub ever in recorded history, hats off to them.:shocked:

 

[GDFL]

let the hood come off in storm surf and see how bad you regret NO FOAM. 45 mins. to shore with foam or 2 mins. to the bottom without. Been there and even with 2 part foam the boat was only 8" above water in the rear (only foamed area) when it wasnt being pulled under by an 8 foot wave. Ask Luke Skywalker about NO FOAM.

You'd only regret it if you had a rather large leak in the tray that allowed a couple gallons an hour. If the leak was big enough to cause you problems, then most likely your waterlogged foam wouldn't be much help either.