TENDER TIPS NEWSLETTER - MARCH
Ray
This newsletter discusses the care and feeding of your tender,
be it an inflatable, hard dinghy, folding boat, kayak or
surfboard - whether you row it, sail it or motor it.
Opinions and tips are invited and with your help I hope to
grow this into a monthly publication that every recreational
boater will read.
***IN THIS ISSUE:
Letters to the Editor
Hypalon Inflatables: Making a permanent patch
- and making it look good!
Make your inflatable last longer
Rowing tips
***LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
"I got myself a nine foot wooden dinghy but find that when
rowing into a chop, solid water ships over the bows. What
should I do?" Signed Fatty Knees Jnr.
Dear Fatty, you have a few options:
1) Sit further aft
2) Get a bigger dinghy
3) Buy an inflatable and fill it with helium
4) Go on a diet
----Editor
***HYPALON INFLATABLES: MAKING A
PERMANENT PATCH - AND MAKING IT LOOK GOOD!
-Finding the hole
If you are afloat, get to shore quickly first! If the hole or tear
isn't obvious and it's a slow leak that you can't hear hissing,
then to locate the leak fully inflate the boat and use a mixture
of detergent and water, and sponge or brush the solution over
the boat until you see bubbles. It's always obvious when you
find the leak.
-Kinds of leaks
Usually, a hole is a simple small hole or puncture, or a tear
caused by a ripping action. Hopefully, the tear is not too big.
Sometimes a leak is a bad seam; Hypalon boats are hand
glued with two-part glue, and a badly glued seam may start to
leak.
-Fixing a hole or tear
A hole or tear must be fixed with a patch. Even a large hole
can be fixed, but you must have a good piece of fabric to start
with. If possible, the patch should cover the void by 2 inches
all round, giving the corners a radius. Some pros advocate an
inside/outside patch, but it can be quite tricky to do this
without much experience and is not recommended for the
amateur unless the site is very easy to get at. From a practical
standpoint, I've seen little reliable evidence that an
inside/outside patch is any more reliable than a simple, easy
to apply single outside patch.
-Preparation
Draw around the patch with a pencil to mark where the patch
is to go, then make certain the area is clean. Sand the surface
of the Hypalon fabric within the described area using
sandpaper (this can be slow, because the fabric is quite
abrasion resistant), or use an abrading bit on a drill until
traces of the brown coloured layer of fabric can be seen
beneath the outer surface. Be careful you do not abrade
further. Abrade the back of the patch similarly if it is Hypalon
on both sides (as in Avons), or just scuff the back side of the
patch if it is neoprene (most Hypalon boats).
-Glues and techniques
An emergency repair can be made with the tube of one-part
glue in your repair kit. Note that it will be pretty useless if
more than a year or two old, so ensure that you keep the tube
of glue replaced regularly. Bostik Inflatable Boat Adhesive is
very good, and you apply a first thin coat to the patch and the
boat, let it dry for 20-30 minutes, then a second coat, and let
it dry until just tacky. You can test this with the back of your
knuckles, if you don't stick to it then it's ready. Join the two
sides and roll from the centre to the outside edges with a
decorator's roller or a bottle. The repair will be ready to take
an inflation within minutes.
Remember that this is an emergency repair, and I recommend
that you get a two-part glue kit as soon as possible and do it
properly. To take the emergency patch off, simply warm up
the area with a hairdryer (if you have one available, don't let
the fabric get too hot) and prize the patch up with a blunt
knife. Clean the old glue off with sandpaper and wipe clean
with acetone.
Weaver Glue kits are expensive, but come in a can containing
patch material, brushes, cleaner and glue. My
recommendation, however, is to buy a square foot of
matching Hypalon material when you purchase your boat,
and a can of Bostik, Avon or Weaver 2-part glue. Remember
that the 2-part stuff has a limited shelf life, and it's best to use
it within 6 months to 1 year, so you'll probably be buying it
especially for a repair job, and if there's any left after the
repair, throw it away.
Mix the two-part glue as directed. I use paper cups, and mix
half a can at a time; it's very difficult to measure the right
amount of catalyst if you try to make a smaller batch than
that. Make sure you are in a well-ventilated area. Scientists
report that this stuff can be as nasty as nerve gas in a Tokyo
subway.
If you use a Styrofoam (polystyrene) cup, the glue and
catalyst will melt through the cup and glue your fingers to the
brush.
Using a small brush, paint the glue on both the boat and the
patch and let it dry. Ideally, give it a full day to set, as long as
it cannot get wet or dusty; at a minimum though, give it 30
minutes. Then brush on a second layer, let it dry to just
tacky, then carefully place the patch and roll out from the
centre to the outside to eliminate any air bubbles.
I'm advised by the glue experts that the repair will continue to
get stronger up to 5 days after, before you inflate the boat, so
let it sit for as long as you can. However, even an hour later
this is an extremely strong repair and in every way boat
should be quite serviceable.
-Fixing a leaky seam
A seam leak is quite different, although if it's a small,
localized one, then a patch might do in a hurry. In most
cases, though, I recommend that the seam be undone with a
blunt knife as above, and both sides sanded clean and re-
glued. If it's a large leak, the ideal repair is to do the above,
then cut a tape 2" wide and glue it on top of the seam. You
can make it look good by putting a symmetrical tape on the
other side of the boat to match; you may as well use up the
excess glue, anyway.
-Making the repair look good
You might be able to add rubber rub strakes over the patch to
cover it up, using the same glue. Apply a rub strake on both
sides of the boat, to make it look symmetrical. There are other
things you can do to cover up a patch, depending on where it
is, for example:
Registration holders
Running light holder
Small cleats or rings for mooring, for example
Davit lifting points
Bungee cords to hold oars in place
Go-faster stripes
Barbecue mount
If you don't know where to go for supplies for any of the
above, call me.
***MAKE YOUR INFLATABLE LAST LONGER
-Protection from UV
Both Hypalon and PVC inflatables will eventually suffer
from continuous exposure to strong sunlight, so here are
some ideas that you might be able to adopt to protect your
investment:
-Boat cover
There are covers available, pre-fabricated, to match most
inflatables, and it does not take more than a couple of minutes
to put the cover on the boat. Some of them have a hump
astern to cover the outboard, too, another plus point. People
complain that it's a pain in the neck to do this every time you
use the boat, so my suggestion is to fit the cover to the boat,
and glue or sew it into the trailing edge of your bow dodger if
you have one. Or you could permanently fit the cover to the
bow and roll it up to a couple of snaps, so that it looks like a
bow dodger when rolled up, and easily unsnaps and rolls
back to cover the whole boat. If you do this every time you
leave your inflatable, it will last for a long time.
-UV protective coating
Although I have not tried these yet (they are on order and I'll
report on them in a future issue), there are some products on
the market that purport to have UV screen coatings, such as:
MDR Inflatable Boat Cleaner & UV Protectant Kit (for
Hypalon, PVC, Vinyl & rubber)
Starbrite Inflatable Boat & Fender Cleaner/Protector
It will take at least a year to document any results, but I will
report on the cleaner aspect of these products in the next two
months.
-Discipline
Deflate and roll the boat up after every use (yeah, right), or
haul the inflatable onto the deck and stow with the boat cover
or upside-down (and when you've done that, go below, take
a cold shower and whip yourself with thorns then rub salt
into the wounds).
-Protection from abrasions
Hypalon is generally much more abrasion resistant than PVC,
but it's best to avoid chafe at all. One of the most common
problems is when the inflatable rubs up against a dock due to
swells and wakes. A good way to stop this, if you are
confident about the painter bull-ring in the bow, is to haul the
bow up to the dock and cleat it off short, so that the bow is
up and out of the water. This stops movement of the boat
against the dock. Or you could use two docking lines and tie
the boat up fore & aft. When you tie your inflatable up
against the boat, bring it up short with just the stern of the
inflatable in the water, or completely lift it out of the water
with a halyard.
-Care when motoring
The golden rules here are:
Slow down and cut power before you reach the dock, and
hand the inflatable clear so you don't rub up hard
against a nail or splinter.
Don't roar up onto the beach, there may be sharp rocks or
other obstacles (like dumped medical syringes in New
York)
-Storage
If your inflatable is rolled up and stowed on deck, make sure
that it does not move and rub against the deck or sharp
objects in a seaway.
***ROWING TIPS
Whatever kind of tender you have, you should know how to
get the best out of rowing it, because that damn outboard
motor has a habit of failing just at the worst time - usually
when you need to row into a strong head wind for 200 yards
in a 2 foot chop. Either that, or risk a 200 mile accidental
cruise from Providentiales, Turks & Caicos to Montego Bay,
Jamaica. Rowing effectively, however, demands different
techniques depending on whether you are rowing a rigid
dinghy or, say, an inflatable.
The average tender, be it wooden or fabric, is between nine
and twelve feet, intended for two to four people. A twelve
foot inflatable that is rated for six adults will not go very far
when rowing, so be careful how you load it! In any kind of
tender, you are not likely to be able to row very far with more
than two or three people aboard.
-Oars and rowing
Get rid of those lubberly aluminum two-piece oars on your
inflatable - they will break at the worst moment! Try paddling
an inflatable with one oar sometime, just for a jape. Ha-ha,
you won't be a-doing that again. The only oar that makes any
sense is a good, solid wooden oar at least six feet long, so go
and buy some now. If you can't see how to attach rowlocks,
the best way is to cut off the existing system and with some
dinghy fabric, glue on a block of wood then screw rowlocks
to that.
Most inflatables have flat bottoms and do not have much
directional stability when rowing, especially the soft bottom
ones. Even with fitted floorboards and an inflatable keel, they
typically row like pregnant elephants, and if you've ever tried
to row one of those you'd know what I mean. An oar longer
than six feet probably would not help much, and you must
stroke with short, sharp pulls rather than a long, leisurely
stroke because the inflatable slows down rapidly. Don't
bother to 'feather' the oars, it won't make a whit of
difference.
I don't know how anybody can row facing forwards;
certainly you will have a great loss in efficiency in pushing
the oars instead of pulling on the power stroke, and in the
worst case it can get you into trouble.
Tinkers are the exception, however, because they row about
as well as a rigid dinghy and come with the oars to match, so
you would use similar techniques to hard dinghy rowers.
Rigid dinghy users don't have any problem with oars,
because they are designed primarily for rowing, not
motoring, and come with seamanlike oars. However, you
should experiment with different lengths for effectiveness;
shorter dinghies are lighter and have less waterline, and do
not 'carry their way' or coast far after each stroke, so you
need to stroke more rapidly with a shorter oar than in a longer
dinghy. Typically, a 9 foot rigid dinghy needs a six to seven
foot oar, and a twelve footer maybe six inches to a foot
longer.
If your boat rows really well, you may want to practice
feathering, which means rotating the oar blade to horizontal
during the recovery, or back stroke; this reduces the air or
wind resistance for more efficiency. However, the practice is
of questionable improvement in the typical tender.
You can buy a wide variety of rowlocks in stainless steel,
bronze or plastic. I prefer captive rowlocks, which either clip
into the sockets and stay there, or have a ring at the base so
that you can tie them with light line to the socket. Some have
a pin that goes through the oar, keeping the angle of attack of
the paddle perfectly vertical, and this would help a lot of
unpracticed rowers.
And keep a spare pair of rowlocks, they do break. If you
break one while underway, ensure you always have some
spare small stuff (line) aboard, possibly tied to a lifeline, so
that you can make an emergency rowlock with a simple loop.
Or a bungee cord might help.
-Sitting position
This is extremely important. Most inflatables do not have a
good seat for rowing and you must find something that
would help. Your seat should be centre about 18 inches
forward of the rowlocks and be about 10 inches above the
floor. If your inflatable has no seat, consider making a painter
or varnished marine ply seat and fit it on wood blocks glued
with fabric to support the seat on each tube.
-Sculling
Larry and Lin Pardy recommend that you cut a slot in your
transom so that you can insert an oar and scull the boat. This
is very nice when getting into a tight area, because you have
no oars sticking out of the sides, and you can get surprising
propulsion from a single oar this way. If you don't want to
cut a slot, maybe a rowlock might do it, and if it interferes
with the placement of the outboard then offset it.
***COMING SOON
PVC Inflatable patching - emergency and permanent
Foot pumps & Electric pumps
Them damn floorboards!
Stowing your tender on board
Can my dinghy be a practical survival craft?
Survival requirements & characteristics
What choices do I have in sailing tenders?
Inflatable cleaning products
***COPYRIGHT AND WAIVERS
Publisher: Ray Thackeray, Sea Star Yachting Products,
1120B Ballena Boulevard, Alameda, 94501 USA PHONE:
(510) 814-0471 FAX: (510) 814-8030
73730...@compuserve.com Copyright (C)1995 Ray
Thackeray. Permission to copy this publication in its entirety
is granted universally and for all time provided th this
paragraph accompanies all copies.
--
Ray