Inflatable Maintenance MarineMotors
Cork The One Stop Boat Shop
Inflatable tenders are one of the
greatest inventions of the 20th Century for cruising sailboats. They are small,
portable and lightweight when stored, and yet big and stable when inflated.
They have huge load carrying capacity and are fast under power.With all these
advantages, you would expect some serious drawbacks. And there are two. First,
a good inflatable has a high price tag. Second, they are somewhat delicate and
can have a very short life span.In a combined accountant's language, inflatable
dinks have very high amortization rates. A € 3,000 tender costs € 600 per year
if the owner only gets 4 years of service from it. But at 10 years of life, the
same dinghy only costs € 300 per year. The moral of this story is obvious. By
maintaining the inflatable to a high standard, the per-year cost of ownership
is cut by over 50%. And yet we regularly encounter dinghys utterly ruined
within a few years of being new. Like maintaining good health, most maintenance
on an inflatable is preventative. Once a problem has occurred, a major job of
restoration and repair ensues.
Some guidelines:
Never leave an inflatable rolled
up tightly for long periods. This is especially important if the storage area
is hot, and doubly true if the boat is made of a PVC fabric. Eventually the
fabric will weld to itself and destroy the dinghy. Leave a little air in it and
stow it in the main saloon or hung from rafters in the garage.
Never leave an unused boat in the water for long periods. The bottom will grow
barnacles or other sea creatures that are nearly impossible to remove without
damage to the fabric. Inflexible bottom paint is not easy to keep on fabric
bottomed boats if they are rolled up often. Some owners apply grease or other
coatings to retard growth, but these can hinder future repairs. It's easier to
hoist the boat out of the water when not in use.
Keep the sun off. Again, PVC fabrics deteriorate faster due to UV degradation,
but all fabrics wear out faster in sunlight, especially in the tropics. Use a
cover if the boat stays blown up on deck, or stow it below when not needed.
Avoid sharp or abrasive objects. Sounds simple enough, but how many inflatables
do you see with fenders? One barnacle on the dock piling can make a long tear
that is hard to repair. Spearguns, fish hooks and dive knives are common
offenders. A few hours rubbing against a rough concrete wall can take years off
the boat's life.
Keep it clean. Pull the floor out of the dinghy occasionally to flush abrasive
sand, bits of shell and dirt that can wear the boat from the inside out.
Spilled chemicals such as gasoline should be attended to immediately. Use mild
soap and water to wash away grime. Some stains, especially diesel exhaust on
white Hypalon fabric, can not be removed, but other than being unsightly, cause
no real harm. Use of silicone or Teflon protectorants will make future repair
difficult and should be avoided.
Put sacrificial chafe patches on the fabric where needed. If you carry a second
anchor with the dinghy, the top of the bow might benefit from a doubler. This
is good practice for patching.
Repair and re-coat wood as soon as required. Many portable boats have plywood
transoms or floorboards. I was nearly lost at sea one time when a rotted wooden
oar snapped in half at an inopportune moment.Even with all these preventative
measures taken to squeeze as much life as possible from our expensive tender,
faults will occur. Mechanical things fail and accidents happen. To solve most
mishaps to the tender, you will need three things:
Replacement valves, valve caps and any O-ring seals.
Patches and fabric to match the material and color of the boat.The proper glue
to make repairs.
If you have a leak:
First, always suspect a valve first unless you know of specific damage to the
fabric. Valves are the source of most leaks.
To find a leak, use a solution of water rich with dishwashing detergent. A
spray bottle works best, although rubbing handfuls of soap over a wet dinghy
eventually accomplishes the same thing. Blow the dinghy up hard for this
procedure. Go slowly, look for bubbles and mark with a china pencil.
If the hole is merely a pinprick, a product from Sevylor called "Seam
Seal" works well. Just a little dab will do you.
If the puncture or tear is larger, or if you've suffered an abrasion that isn't
leaking, a patch will be required. Select a standard patch from your repair kit
or cut one from your fabric. The edges should extend a minimum of 1" in all
directions beyond the damage. Mask off the boat in the shape of the patch to
avoid a gluey mess and follow the directions on the glue.