Just a note: I was able to hash together a working solution for the boat model I made. It now floats quite nicely and acts like a real boat. Here are the settings of the QC file for anyone who is interested:
$modelname "ds_rowboat"
$scale .25
$staticprop
$cdmaterials "models\diamondshoals"
$keyvalues
{
prop_data
{
base Wooden.Large
dmg.bullets 0
AIWalkable 1
}
}
$body "Body" "rowboat_ref.SMD"
$sequence "Idle" "E:\Users\Sporkwhistle\Desktop\Rowboat\rowboat_ref.SMD" fps 30 ACT_IDLE 1
$surfaceprop "Wood_lowdensity"
$collisionmodel "E:\Users\Sporkwhistle\Desktop\Rowboat\rowboat_phys.SMD"
{
$mass 1600
$dampening .5
$inertia 192
$rotdamping 16
$drag 16
}
I think the key here is the
$surfaceprop "Wood_lowdensity"
line. This $surfaceprop has a very high buoyancy and floats very well. I also believe that mass in source is tied to buoyancy... in that the higher the mass the more buoyant the object is. So by setting the $surfaceprop to a high buoyancy material and with a large mass, you get a very buoyant/stable object.