Keeping Your Dinghy Alive
From CaptainWiki
Inflatable Dinghies (also called Dinks) are the workhorses of your boat and because of this, have a finite lifespan. Rubbing against the concrete dinghy dock, being stepped on with shoes, and UV degradation all take a toll on the life of a dinghy. The thin rub rail is little protection and a leak can easily happen if care is not taken.
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[edit] Extending Your Dink's Life
- Keep your dinghy fully inflated - If your dinghy is always soft, the seams are prone to separation and it will abrade quicker. Keeping your dinghy properly inflated will both increase it's lifespan and make trips in it more comfortable.
- Custom made canvas covers help stop sun damage, and minor abrasions which are a dinghy's enemy.
- A Stern dinghy anchor is a necessity when going to unfamiliar dinghy docks. You never know when you will be tying up to a rough concrete wall with a surge.
- Tiny fenders can really help to extend the life of your dinghy when you need to rub up against other hard sided dinghy's or docks.
- Bottom Painting - with anti-fouling will help save the bottom and reduce the need for harmful scraping. Painting over the tubes doesn't seem to cause any problems.
- Painting the tubes with a hypalon or rubber based paint will extend or restore life to already aging dinghy tubes.
[edit] Cleaning
- Beach your dinghy and flip it over. Start cursing yourself for not raising the dinghy at night. Scrape the bottom carefully with a scraper. Spray bleach on the bottom with a spray bottle and scrape off the result. You can then wax the bottom with automotive wax, spray wax or even bottom paint (like most cruisers do) to match your boat.
- An alternative, easier way, is to pull your dinghy onto the beach. Don't take the motor off or unload all the junk in the dinghy. Just tighten up the gas can vent. Push the side of the dinghy up and prop it up with some driftwood or the dinghy paddles. Then do your cleaning thing on the one side of the bottom using bleach, scraper or beach sand and a scrub brush. Remove the paddles, drop the dinghy down, and repeat on the opposite side.
- Never use Goo-Gone or Armor All as it may attack the surface and patch glue bonds on your dinghy.
[edit] Patching Small Tears, Cuts and Punctures
Repair procedures may differ depending on boat material (Hypalon or PVC) and the type of glue used. Here are the repair procedures for:
Plastimo dinghy
- Hull Type: PVC
- Glue Type: Polyurethane. M.E.K.
- If cut is less than 1/2 inch (12.7mm) repair can be made with a round patch, 3 inch (76.2mm) diameter minimum.
- Both patch and surface on boat must be dry and free of dirt and grease.
- Deflate the dinghy.
- Apply 3 thin, even coats of glue to surface of boat and patch. Wait 5 minutes between each coat. After 3rd coat, wait 10-15 minutes before placing patch on boat. Use a hard roller to pres patch onto boat skin.
- Wait a minimum of 24hours before re-inflating and using the boat.
[edit] Abrasions, Pinhole leaks and Cracking Skin
You can fix tiny pinhole leaks by mixing epoxy and thinning it so you can wipe it on the seams and thin spots with a cloth. Creeping Crack Cure works exceptionally well as a premixed penetrating epoxy, with the added bonus of bubbling when it finds a leak. Give the epoxy a day to harden and seal any pinhole leaks.
[edit] Protecting and Restoring by Painting
Painting the tubes with a hypalon or rubber based paint will extend, or restore life to already aging dinghy tubes. They can provide UV and Ozone protection and may even seal, and prevent some pinhole leaks. PVC dinghy's should not use Hypalon paints.
- Tuff-Coat - Rubber based 2-part product that can re-coat and restore PVC or Hypalon dinghy's.
- Gacoflex - Hypalon Coating is an example of a hypalon paint used to restore and protect dinghy tubes.
- SafeBoatSkin - Is a clear paint product that is made for dinghy anti-fouling and coating.
[edit] Reviving a dead dinghy with Truck Tire Tubes
You can revive a deflating dinghy that even the shop can't fix (and laughs at when they look at it).
- To do this get 3 truck tire inner tubes from a tire shop, cut them to size (one for each side and one for the front).
- Have the tire shop vulcanize the cut sides together. The alternate to having the shop vulcanize the ends is to put contact cement on a few inches inside the edge, press it together, fold the end like an accordion, then hose clamp it together.
- Next cut a 6 inch or so slit in the 3 parts of the dinghy, insert the tube and stick the fill valve out of the hole.
- Blow the tire tubes up and enjoy your new non-deflating dinghy
[edit] Adhesive Products
- "Pliobond" Industrial contact cement by Ashland can be used on almost any surface and has been successfully used alone for patching small abrades.
