Hi everyone,
I am replacing the flotation material in my Leeward 16. I have read the
postings about
pool noodles and the flotation information on the luger website.
Not so sure you should use your noodle on this one.

Here's why-----

The area of a circle is pi x R x R. The average noodle I have found is 2.5
inches in
diameter and has a 3/4 inch center hole. They are 60 inches long. Weight .25
pound per
noodle.

The volume of the noodle is 1.25x1.25x3.1415x60 which equals 4.91 Cu inches-the
center hole which is .375x.375x3.1415x60 which equals .441 Cu inches. Subtract
the
center hole out of the area of the noodle and the total flotation material
volume per
noodle is 268.14 cubic inches.

Divide a cubic ft (1728 Cu In) by 268.14 and you get 6.444 noodles per cubic ft.
6.444 noodles x .25 # = 1.6 # per cu ft.

A cubic foot of water weight approx 62 #. Which means you get 60.4 # of lift
per cubic
foot of pool noodle.

The weight of a leeward 16 ready to sail (as per Luger's documentation is 600 #.
Add
extra for anchor, cooler, Battery? misc. Maybe 700#???

700# divided by 60.4 # equals 11.589 or call it 11.6 cu ft of pool noodle for
the flotation
recommended on the web site. 11.6 x 6.44 equals 74.7 or 75 pool noodles.

I understand that the boat displaces water and is somewhat lighter when
submerged,
however----

Where the heck are you going to put 75 pool noodles in a Leeward?

The solid pool noodles (or pool logs) are much better, but darned expensive and
you still
have the problems with round pieces, so--

The alternative I have chosen is the blue DOW insulation board. It doesn't
"popcorn" like
the white styrofoam does, and has less than 1 % water absorbtion, as it is used
as a below
ground insulation for buildings. A three inch by 24 inch by 96 inch sheet costs
18 dollars.
it weighs only 7 #s per sheet. Volume is 6912 cu inches. Divided by 1728 you
get 4 cu ft
per piece. That is 1.75 # weight per cu ft or lift of 60.25 # per cu ft. Only
slightly heavier
than a pool noodle, and it can be shaped to fill the seats and nose of the boat
nicely
without fighting the problems that occur when you are working with round pieces
that do
not occupy a "square" volume well, and noodles have that darned hole in the
middle that
makes the situation even worse.
Three of the 3 inch x 2ft x 8 ft pieces of insulation give well over 700
#'s lift, and I have
had no problems fitting all of it (with a bit of carving) into the Leeward seats
and the nose.

As the saying goes, My two cents worth.
If I have made a major miscalclation, yell back at me--I won't take offense.