prv
Well-Known Member
I have a somewhat elderly 10ft Bombard I bought off eBay this spring. It's a bit tatty, and the solid ply floor is a bit of a pain, but that apart it gave good service the few times I've used it. It's much more convincing as a boat than some charter tenders I've used.
However, after the last use I left it inflated on my patio, meaning to repair a couple of minor leaks. It sat there longer than expected, as the weather turned and I kept waiting for a long enough dry spell at a convenient time. During that time, given the aforementioned leaks, it deflated. As it went down, the tubes seem to have peeled themselves away from the edges of the transom.
The transom is still attached, apparently firmly, across the bottom. It still has the rubber parts up the edges which fair it into the tubes. These end in a 2-inch-wide (from memory; it's been folded up an packed back in the shed for weeks) curved face to which the tube should be bonded but isn't.
Is it feasible to repair this? On the face of it it seems like it should be a simple matter of degreasing the parts, applying suitable glue, then somehow contriving to press the two together. But I seem to remember someone saying "once the transom falls out the dinghy is dead", and I don't want to bother if these repairs inevitably fail. If nothing else, I wouldn't want the as-new outboard to end up getting dunked as the transom it's clamped to falls over.
If it can be fixed, is the Polymarine PVC sold in Force 4 the right stuff, or is there something better? I guess epoxy is too rigid.
Cheers,
Pete
However, after the last use I left it inflated on my patio, meaning to repair a couple of minor leaks. It sat there longer than expected, as the weather turned and I kept waiting for a long enough dry spell at a convenient time. During that time, given the aforementioned leaks, it deflated. As it went down, the tubes seem to have peeled themselves away from the edges of the transom.
The transom is still attached, apparently firmly, across the bottom. It still has the rubber parts up the edges which fair it into the tubes. These end in a 2-inch-wide (from memory; it's been folded up an packed back in the shed for weeks) curved face to which the tube should be bonded but isn't.
Is it feasible to repair this? On the face of it it seems like it should be a simple matter of degreasing the parts, applying suitable glue, then somehow contriving to press the two together. But I seem to remember someone saying "once the transom falls out the dinghy is dead", and I don't want to bother if these repairs inevitably fail. If nothing else, I wouldn't want the as-new outboard to end up getting dunked as the transom it's clamped to falls over.
If it can be fixed, is the Polymarine PVC sold in Force 4 the right stuff, or is there something better? I guess epoxy is too rigid.
Cheers,
Pete
