how to make my 69 starcraft safe

[dsujen]

I like the boat but it has nothing to keep it from sinking. No foam. I'm worried about having to pay a salvage company to remove it from the water if it sinks.

 

[BWR1953]

What model and condition is your boat? Pix would certainly help the Starmada render assistance.

This is what I did for my 1976 Starcraft Kingfisher.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

In my experience not all aluminum boats have foam in them. In fact a 1990 19' StarCraft we are working on right now had very little foam in the floor. Most of the foam was in the gunnels and behind some compartments. The foam in a boat doesn't make it unsinkable.

 

[Grandad]

I'd cram in as much as you can, cuz if it sinks you'll probably be paying for recovery of not only the boat, but also the petroleum damage to the environment. Of course if you drown, it'll be someone else's problem. I don't know the size of your boat, but I managed to get about 35 cu ft of foam into mine, which I think will at least keep her at the surface. Under the floor is the most common place for flotation, but getting some into the upper parts such as under the gunnels will help keep her upright. Do a calculation of how much your boat weighs in water and put in at least that much equivalent cubic measure of the weight of water. If you get almost enough to float it, you get to watch it sink more slowly, so I'd over-engineer if possible. There's some details on how I did mine in the thread linked below.