Bulkheads are they worth the time

[Nachako]

I am just about finished stripping my Redbird and I am interested in installing bulkheads (after the interior glassing )with foam insulatuion in the air chambers. Has anyone done this? Also how many of you instal bulkheads and are they worth the time.

[Kurt Loup]

I added a bulkhead with a deck plate to the bow of my Wee Lassie. Never use it. Didn't bother on my Merlin, but I wasn't worried about adding floatation. Here's a photo if you are interested http://www.loup-garou.net/weelassie.html

Kurt

[Glen Smith]

I also added bulkheads to my shortened Wee Lassie with deck plates for access. A flooded stripper with bagage onboard could sink if the wood doesn't provide enough floatation for the bagage weight. Adding foamed-in bulkheads could help overcome this problem. As far as I know, not many strippers have foam floatation and I have never heard of anyone losing their canoe due to sinkage.

[Steve Lansdowne]

Swamp your canoe on purpose in shallow water and then decide if you want floatation. I cut several Styrofoam pieces to fit inside my Wee Rob's bow and stern, covered them with a Odyssey II cloth bag lashed to the boat through the scuppers and now have removable floatation. E-mail me if you want more information or a picture at slansdow@ev1.net.

[Todd Bradshaw]

Your hull will most likely support itself in the water when fully swamped, even with gear aboard, which usually has enough trapped air in it to at least prevent it from contributing to sinking the boat, even if it doesn't add noticably to it's flotation. The hull also probably displaces enough extra water to keep you afloat while in the water hanging onto the boat (though you should, of course, be wearing a PFD to take care of that). The difference between adding floatation tanks or bags and not is whether or not you want to be able to climb back into your swamped canoe and bail it out - and/or whether you want it to float high enough while swamped to have a good chance of being able to empty it out on the water and get back in. If you do want to be able to climb into the swamped canoe and bail, you'll need to add around a cubic foot-and-a-half to two cubic feet of buoyancy compartments, air bags, etc. Otherwise, the hull will go straight to the bottom when you crawl in and raise part of your body above the water's surface, overpowering the limited reserve buoyancy of the hull. The alternative is to understand that if you dump the boat, without added flotation, the only feasable self rescue will likely be swimming and dragging the boat to the nearest shore to empty it out. With small boats, and in sheltered waters, this may be fine. On bigger water, it may be much less so.

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

I'm building a Redbird also and I am definately going to put bulkheads in. I'm adding a sail rig to mine and I wouldn't consider not adding some sort of flotation.

[KARKAUAI]

Aloha, all,
I don't have a web site yet, but I thought I'd describe the method I used to install watertight screw-in deck fittings. I cut an 8 1/18 inch circle in the bulkhead (the same size as the 8 inch screw in cover of the PVC deck fitting, with 1/8 inch to spare). I epoxied this circle to the cover, and epoxied and screwed the flange to the back side of the bulkhead. A 1/16 inch strip was bent around the inside edge of the bulkhead hole, and the outside edge of the circle was epoxied to seal. A simple handle was added to the outside of the circle to facilitate screwing the panel into the bulkhead. The installed panel perfectly matches the bulkhead, and there's no plastic showing.
A hui ho,
Kent

[KARKAUAI]

Aloha, all,
I don't have a web site yet, but I thought I'd describe the method I used to install watertight screw-in deck fittings. I cut an 8 1/18 inch circle in the bulkhead (the same size as the 8 inch screw in cover of the PVC deck fitting, with 1/8 inch to spare). I epoxied this circle to the cover, and epoxied and screwed the flange to the back side of the bulkhead. A 1/16 inch strip was bent around the inside edge of the bulkhead hole, and the outside edge of the circle was epoxied to seal. A simple handle was added to the outside of the circle to facilitate screwing the panel into the bulkhead. The installed panel perfectly matches the bulkhead, and there's no plastic showing.
A hui ho,
Kent

[Don Flowers]

Hi
I have put in bulkheads for dry storage of small items. When I am serious about flotation, I put in air bags or strap my dry bags to the bottom of the canoe. The bulkheads may work but if you are in the kind of conditions that lead to dumping, you need a lot more floatation than they provide to give you a measure of safety.
good luck
don

[TGK]

I put bulkheads in both of the canoes I have built and will do so on other canoes. They are nice to have when it rains and you want a place to keep something dry. Like a camera, binoculars, ect. They also add a nice touch to the looks. I feel that it "finishes" the canoe. I would not put in foam type insulation as it would harbor moisture and could cause damage to the structure.

I built a redbird too and like the way it handles

TGK