SoCal Jet Boats
Discussion => The No Wake Zone => Topic started by: hallett1974 on July 10, 2014, 06:45:33 PM
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I have been reading up and I noticed that people are saying to remove the foam in the bow. I would just like to know why?
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It tends to hold water, plus for us closed bow jet boaters it's useful storage.
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Got it. So should I remove all the foam?
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I would while your at it, also if you ever have to replace your bow hook/eye you'll be happier you can actually get up there if/when you need to
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That's a great point lol. Thanks for the info.
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It is there for a good reason, that is to make pulling it up off the bottom unnecessary, or at least easier should disaster strike.
Modern materials make replacement easy. Some guys just fill the bow with those air filled pillows that sometimes come in boxes to protect fragile parts or at the UPS store. Hell some guys just use a bunch of life vests, but that is not really something I would do. Just go with something that won't get waterlogged.
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So your saying to replace the foam with some modern material?
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Why would you not? It is very expensive to hire divers and you can't just leave it there when/if it sinks.
I'm sure lots of people would tell you differently so use your own judgement.
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Got it what material do you have in your bow?
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Got it what material do you have in your bow?
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Not every manufacturer filled their bows with foam back in the day, just a few. Hallett was known for it and ,like you have already come to find, many guys have removed it. This may really depend more on where you do the most boating. If you are on the big lakes then I would find some sort of replacement if you do remove what's there. If on the river where depths reach 10' or so(give or take) then you may be fine running without it. Like GC said use your best judgement as it can help to have a little floatation in there if some were to ever go wrong. My bubbledeck is untouched in the bow and I have considered removing the foam but there is no real benefit other than extra storage for me at this point. The fix for that is get a bigger boat! Atleast that's what I did.
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Something easy and durable is car tire inner tubes. You can get all different sizes and they can be lashed together to fill the nose pretty easily. Plus they're durable. Make sure there's nothing sharp to poke holes in them like screws holding on the rub rail, or something coming through the bulk head. I think Harbor Freight sells the small ones for trailer tires. Other people use those foam noodles, but they will eventually die and turn to shit, plus they can be kind of pricey if you buy enough to fill the nose. If you can find the ones used by boat manufactures back in the 70's-80's they were like air filled pillows about 16" square, made out of a pretty thick vinyl. Those work great IMO, but don't know where to get them.
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I have a 79 south wind, it has what looks like industrial strength beach balls made out of some thing like a water bed mattress would be made of.
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ive never ran any added flotation crap up front. store your life jackets up there and go have abeer.
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So do you have any foam or any flotation other then what was from the factory.
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Since my boat is a popular model, anyone know what eliminator was stuffing into their bows? If anything at all...
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I have a 79 south wind, it has what looks like industrial strength beach balls made out of some thing like a water bed mattress would be made of.
These are what I was describing when I called them pillows. I like these the best. They weigh nothing, don't wrought and will definitely float the nose in the event of an accident.
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I heard of someone using empty 2 liter bottles with the caps on. Its probably what I will do.
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Really kind of sounds crazy. But hey whatever works. Dont know if I would use the
2liter bottles.
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I heard of someone using empty 2 liter bottles with the caps on. Its probably what I will do.
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Those lids won't be air tight, so don't think that would work all too well over time.
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I have been thinking about doing the same thing to my 79 sleekcraft rebel.
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Is this something that is really needed in our boats? Is it sinking that big of a possibility?
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Is this something that is really needed in our boats? Is it sinking that big of a possibility?
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.....only if you get enough water in the boat!
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.....only if you get enough water in the boat!
:-)
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