The Adventures of Thumper

G-Flexed a piece of ash to recontour my bow roller/cleat pad to my boats bow. The black material is 1670 decitx
hypalon, another layer will sandwich over this on the bow.Glue used is two part Staybond, one never wants to do structural repairs or hull repair with one part glue. There are different glues for boats made of Hypalon or PVC hulls, this Avon CRRC is made with hapalon.

The cleat will just be used for docking as a proper one will be bolted into my bow thrust plate.

Cheers, Don

Some bits, strobe/mast head light, one of 2 Dzus pull latch for the console and a starboard nav light, radar head unit, and Com headset.

Quote from LunkerBuster

Looking awesome DP. Are you planning to make a gun container or rack of some kind for pointy things. The tubes scare the hell out of me with spears around

A gun rack will be incorporated into the A-frame or radar arch from the rear stern floor board. The same arch tubes will also link the transom at a raked angle. I used the design on my first small Zodiac GT and it preformed well. Of the three inflatables I've spearfished from I've never had a puncture, but I run a tight ship.
One of the main concerns were large gulf grouper in Baja. I found hacking off the dorsal spines on a big fish while still in the water helped prevent punctures, along with tube guards of backed outdoor carpet.

A small puncture in a inflatable at sea can be temporary fixed by a product called RipAid, then later repaired properly later.....But the best way to keep the boat ship-shape is limit the guys you take out.

Quote from 75th

Holy SMOKES! That last pic... is that what you've got, Dan??

That's not Dan's boat.;) but I would thumper........if I didn't have the GF.

Cheers, Don

This weekend I was able to make some slow progress on the Avon. Disassembled and cleaned 5 chamber over pressure valves , than leak tested with soapy water.

Completed bow board, center and thrust board install.The new boards were fabricated from 7/8's marine mahogany plywood, sealed with West epoxy, then sprayed with bed liner after being two part glued into the boat.

Finally was able to invert the hull for inspection and measurement of the transom angles for a Titanium keel guard I'm making. This boat is a brute, transom is 2'' thick and the each scupper is 6x10 inches....small shite left on deck is going to go missing.
Bow rail is a work in progress.
Cheers, Don

Thanks Lunkerbuster I'm missing some good diving, but the boat needs to be big sea shipshape.
Even if I make a 26 mile island crossing in good weather, shite can get big in a hurry here on the West Coast.
It will have seat belts for three, a Epirb or Spot along with a bolt cutter in case the motor needs to go over board.:@ and oars deployed.

Cheers, Don

Quote from LunkerBuster

Hahaha bring a sat phone or strong UHF too.

How are you gonna keep your catch? Cooler as a seat?

The boat will have the Military Ross DSC and a backup radio, two antenna.

Yeah,128 qt Igloo for ice and a fish bag.

Cheers, Don

Trailer, have some bunk board work to do.

Cheers, Don

Came home for lunch to give it a hr, thanks buddy.

Cheers, Don

Here under the hull we can see worn hypalon fabric under the thrust board. I could have coated over the tan exposed threads with liquid rubber, but I will install a sacrificial wear patch of hypalon to cover the beginning damage and shield the high wear spot. This and the keel are wear areas on beach landings.

Circle the area to be prepped and glued, cut out and round corners of patch to lessen corner peel back.

Wipe the area with Toluene or acetone, (hard to get toluene in Cali) I used acetone.

Sand both mating surfaces with 80grid paper.

Wipe again with acetone on a paper towel. Rags may be contaminated with fabric softener and effect the glue bond....yeah keep your finger tips off the glue surface.

Follow the instructions on the can of the hypalon glue you use ...Weaver, Staybond,PolyMarine, ext. I wrap the brush in tin foil to and cover glue pot to reduce thinner evaporation between coats.

I laid down two thin coats 10 min apart with a trimmed paint brush.

Cont....

If you have a large patch or one with high and low spots you can use wax paper to position the patch and gradually pull it way from the work as you apply firm pressure to the area. If you just press it with you fingers or hand you will have a weak glue joint.

Most used inflatable boats have poorly applied patches with thick old glue the the previous owner never prepped correctly. I use a wood block and press the edge firmly into the work, starting at the center and working out any trapped air or thick glue to the outer edge. Pro shops use a metal roller to do this opp. On areas under the hull it's a good idea to bevel the leading edge to help preventing lifting from water pressure at speed. Go by the book on repairs or take the boat to a reputable shop.

A little clean up with a acetone soaked rag and it's time for the next one. This repair took me about 47min to carry out.
Prep 15min.
mix two glue batches 6min.
Glue flash time x 2 20min.
Clean up 5min.

Cheers, Don