Got my new 327$ dinghy !

[Québec 1]

Thanks, I was just going to use a tarp bungeed on to the dinghy cause I ain't got no Ruth ! As soon as I find my sail from my sailboard I will try to adapt it to make a double main for the dinghy. John inspires me !
Q1

[Terry]

Terry - up here in the NE (Q1 is even more north than I am) we are too cloudy to get much UV....my cheap PVC boats are >5 years without any degradation. Still, maybe you can talk Ruth into spinning out a nice blue Sunbrella cover for it..

I bought my 9.9 Titan in 2004, brand new! It was only exposed to sun in July and August, sometimes into Sept depending on weather. The rest of the year it was bagged and stored. I live at 49 degrees north or within 10 minutes drive of it. Each summer I scrubbed and cleaned that dinghy then sprayed it with 303 protectant a couple times during summer to promote the lifespan, but to no avail. Today it is sticky and I used some bug & tar remover to get some of it off (it actually wworked to some degree). This spring I will paint it with MDR Topside/Topcoat rubberized paint for inflatable dinghies and hopefully gain a few more years use from it. Never again will I buy PVC.
Here is a letter I got from Defender Marine while trying to source the paint.

Hi Terry,

I was not responding to sell you, as much as to answer your question. If the order goes through for Jamestown, great. The MDR coating will be on its way to you that much sooner.


PVC fabrics only have a life expectancy of 5-7 years. Some people get more, but a lot see premature UV breakdown. It is just the trade-off with that material.

On a plus side, PVC holds air much better than CSM (nee, Hypalon), since its seams are thermowelded. Obviously, this is not true of those boats with PVC fabric that are hand glued.


The best stuff we have seen in our testing is the 2-part Tuff Coat. It is, hands down, the winner. But, not cheap at all and not that much fun to apply. Works really, really well and bonds great to icky-sticky-gooey-yellowed fabric (and you cannot get that stuff off, ever).

Second best, for PVC, was the new ECO-Tuff, also from Tuff Coat, but a one-part formula. Less expensive, easier to apply and worked very well.

The Polymarine coatings are fairing rather well so far, but it is the most recent application.....so a bit early to judge. Only 2 months of testing on that one.

The MDR top cost has been around for a long time. I do not feel it bonds well to sticky fabric, nor do I think it seals porous fabric as well as the others. But, it is cheap and very easy to apply.


The sticky stuff on aged PVC fabric is caused by the fabric plasticizers leaching out. PVC fabric is pretty stiff, so they add these plasticizers, but their leaching is accelerated by UV exposure. Even without the UV exposure, they leach out over time. Some PVC fabric Mfgrs use better components (Mehler-Haku and Aerozure are about the best). I have never seen premature breakdown with either of those two vendors PVC fabrics.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Stephan Lance
VP, Defender Industries, Inc.
42 Great Neck Road., Waterford, CT 06385
Telephone: 860-701-3400 x.100
Website: Defender.com


Even here in the great white north PVC will not stand up!

[Québec 1]

Terry,
For 79$ seems to me that eco tuff is a pretty good deal if my tender strarts leaking ! Thanks for the info.
Bertrand

[Catigale]

Where we are in the Northeast, we get about 50% of possible sunshine. The other thing that eats PVC is ozone, which is prevalent in any city of size.

[vizwhiz]

That's great stuff...I was gonna ask if the boat came with the free paddle-person-motor!!

Yer definitely not in FL right now (but you need to be!!)...it was the most beautiful day yesterday...has been beautiful for two weeks straight now...warm, clear clear clear, breezy...um...took this picture yesterday in Clearwater Pass...

Was not sailing, was on a dolphin-sightseeing boat...

[Québec 1]

That's great stuff...I was gonna ask if the boat came with the free paddle-person-motor!!

Yer definitely not in FL right now (but you need to be!!)...it was the most beautiful day yesterday...has been beautiful for two weeks straight now...warm, clear clear clear, breezy...um...took this picture yesterday in Clearwater Pass...

Was not sailing, was on a dolphin-sightseeing boat...

Say that again and I will be in Florida within 2 weeks!
Q1

[Catigale]

Bertrand - ive found the oar locks and clamps on the cheap dinghies often let the oars loose - maybe secure them with a back up of some kind.??

[Québec 1]

Cat,
I've had cheap dinghys before but these oar locks look like the real thing! There are holes that go through the oars which fit the screw on the oar lock.


Q1

[Catigale]

Very nice...I concur.

[vizwhiz]

Very nice...I concur.

Me too...I concur that you should be in Florida.

Actually got a bit cloudy today (welcome sunshine relief) and was a bit cooler, low 70's, a few light rains in the morning, nice stiff breeze blowing in off the Gulf (was over in St. Pete again today for work)...only got to see the Gulf first thing this morning as I crossed the Skyway Bridge and it looked nice out there, but by lunch, Tampa Bay was looking pretty windy...it was calling you, I believe.

Oh, and on topic, I got with my boat one of those $139 Costco dinghy's with the removable foam-plastic hard bottoms, motor transom, paddles... Have not inflated it yet, but will...and will keep this post in mind so I can consider painting it...lots of UV down here!
(Whoops! Did I say that again?)

[Québec 1]

Ran it by the admiral who told me to not forget to pay the tuition for the kids college by the 6th and after the dinghy expense I can't afford Florida . I asked her if she was going to visit her sister in Alberta as planned. She said her sister would pay but if I'm going to Florida she shouldn't go to Alberta . So I said okay I'll pay her a 1 way ticket to Alberta and her sister can pay her way back . She asked me to go buy milk and honey and toilet paper ! After 20 years of marriage I know I'm winning so I called my buddy in Ft Lauderdale and he's got place for me at his place . Checked the flights....I could be boatless in Florida by the 21st of March .
Q1


ps Got Charmin 3 ply on sale...hope it doesn't block up the toilet

[vizwhiz]

Sorry, just couldn't help myself. You will all get the opportunity to beat me up in late July when I'm whining about how hot it is trying to sleep in a stuffy cabin with the sweat dripping off of me and the bugs and sunburn and such...while you're enjoying your nice cool evenings sleeping aboard in the beautiful up-north summer evenings.


(but for now...)