Bailey Bridge Boat and foam.

[Jonboy454]

I have inherited a Bailey Bridge Boat from my father and starting the rebuild process. Hopefully have it done in a year or 2 when my boys are old enough to go with me. For those not familiar this boat it is a 19' semi v with 60” flat in the bottom. Very heavily built aluminium boat.

Boat will be setup up for mainly night fishing local rivers and lakes here in central KY. It will have a 75hp hanging off the back which will top the boat out around 25mph fuly loaded. Plenty fast for me and my style of fishing.

Brings me to the question of foam. Boat has 4ish” tall ribs about 10” apart the length of boat that I could fill will foam pretty easy. For such a heavy built boat whats you're opinion for adding floatation. My father and I fished this boat in Cumberland, ky river, Herrington lake for years with zero issues.

 

[Johnny]

Welcome aboard JonBoy !!
photos of your rig will help us help you.

the Bailey Boat does not come up often on this site, so,
some of your questions may not get the educated response
that you are looking for.

The last Bailey that I saw had a copious amount of foam in the floor and walls.
but, there is no way to tell if it could actually keep the boat from
totally sinking should it become submerged for some unfortunate reason.

I am sure there is a scientfic formula for determining how much foam is required
to keep so much weight afloat....... (one cubic foot of foam will support "x" amount of weight)
you would have to know the weight of your boat, motor and all its contents first.

good luck in your project !!!
share your journey with the gallery with some photos when you get going on it.

 

[Jonboy454]

Thanks Johnny! It's definitely a projectand I have thought about scrapping the thing more than once as it's been a lawn ornament for too long. But it holds memories and is a piece of history. And since I only still fish or troll it's perfect for a weekend on the water.

With how tall the sides are don't think I could ever afford enough foam to keep here afloat if I got swamped which is the only thing I'm really concerned about.

So far I have ripped out all the old floor and starting to plan my design. Looking for a donar runabout or bass boat for engine, controls, nickel/dime stuff. Anyways here are a couple pics. Diamond in the rough for sure!!

 

[Jonboy454]

Better pic of cross members.

Entire boat is constructed of aluminum that is just a fuzz less than 1/8" thick. Thicker in other places.

Once I'm done gathering the main stuff I will update with pics when the sparking starts happening. First will be changing the transom from 90° to 12° then onto the forward casting deck and storage

If anyone is interested there is a website called uglibiats.com with lots of pics and information of these old boats. Website has been inactive for a few years but is still viewable

Thanks

 

[ADIBOO]

Excited to watch this build, would love to find one of those for a good price. There's a link to calculate the foam in the boathouse in the stickies. Or just do a Google search.

 

[ericman]

Well, I'm jealous.

 

[Johnny]

I have some fond memories of when I was attached to a US Navy Seabees detachment
in Italy - - - they let me drive their LCM-6 open cockpit "Mike Boat" on several occassions.
it could carry 34 tons of equipment and I LOVED THAT BOAT !!!!
I can only imagine that your Bailey Boat would handle the same way on the water ......

looks like a very fun project !! and definately a Labor of Love.
please keep us in the loop when you start your journey.

 

[DaleH]

If anyone is interested there is a website called uglibiats.com with lots of pics and information of these old boats. Website has been inactive for a few years but is still viewable

Wrong link ... try https://www.ugliboats.com ...

 

[Jonboy454]

My bad. Lots of cool builds on that sight

 

[ericman]

Any chance of just selling it to me?

 

[Jonboy454]

Sorry Eric man. Not a chance!!

 

[richg99]

This reference might help.... richg99

If water weighs something over 60 lbs. per cubic foot, then each cubic foot of flotation volume will support almost an equal amount of that weight in our boat.

https://www.glen-l.com/weblettr/webletters-7/wl55-flotation.html