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Dinghy maintenance


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9 minutes ago, BilgePump said:

The dinghy is polyester resin so any work with epoxy needs to be careful with cleaning and quantities. Just seems overkill really. Is this one of those 'Ace' dinghies about 8' and double skin so weighty?

It's a Nova. About 8ft x 4ft

Edited by blackrose
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if it has a double skin and has been kept on the water, or has collected rainwater over a long period, and seems to be very heavy then it is likely that the foam (polyurethane) between the skins is waterlogged.  I bought a 16ft open boat with a false bottom, it was very heavy and the plywood/GRP bottom seemed a bit spongy to step on.  I ripped out the false bottom and found sopping wet foam - I estimate it weighed 200kg (doubled the weight of the boat).   

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19 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

if it has a double skin and has been kept on the water, or has collected rainwater over a long period, and seems to be very heavy then it is likely that the foam (polyurethane) between the skins is waterlogged.  I bought a 16ft open boat with a false bottom, it was very heavy and the plywood/GRP bottom seemed a bit spongy to step on.  I ripped out the false bottom and found sopping wet foam - I estimate it weighed 200kg (doubled the weight of the boat).   

 

I'm pretty sure it's just an airgap between the hulls, not foam. It's been semi-sunk and refloated but it hadn't been properly drained. When we stood it up on its transom today and pulled out the two rubber drain bungs, gallons of water came gushing out.

Edited by blackrose
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Anything other than a couple of coats of paint is going to cost more than the value of the dinghy.

 

Little dinghies like that are almost disposable.

 

I'll be at an abandoned tender sale at a boatyard on the coast next week and should pick up something usable for peanuts.

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