How old is your inflatable tender

M

mocruising

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Always wondered how long they last. How long is a bit of string yes I know. However if you added cruising area say Med. or Northern Europe and the manufacturer and whether you have a day use sun cover like you see so many ribs and inflatables with in the Med. the survey might make interesting results.

We have an Avon rib lite and its ten years old now and we have cruised from Portugal to Turkey.
 
We have a Caribe L9 which is 12 years old. It has been used and abused. The fibreglass bottom has nearly worn through from being pulled up the beach. There are numerous puncture/leak repairs. It has been squashed under a set of concrete steps by a rising tide. It is tatty looking but that ensures no-one would bother stealing it :)
It's the best dinghy we have ever had.
 
We have a Quicksilver 2.7 Airdeck that will be ten years old in a few weeks time. For the majority of that time it has been towed behind us around the Med. In common with many makes the original airdeck went sticky as the material degraded, not necessarily in the hot sun, but most likely. The replacement, again common to all types, seems to be surviving well, now about five years old.

The main tubes of this PVC dinghy are in excellent condition. Some small components, such as the names, splash guard on the transom, etc. are glued on and the glue is failing. Everything else, such as rowlocks, towing rings, etc. is welded and seems to be problem free.
 
Had a tinker, it didn't last a Caribbean season. The seams all split and leaked like a sieve. Bought a Caribe in Caribbean. Had it 10 years and it is excellent. It is hypolon and very good quality. Built in the Caribbean for the Caribbean. Best dinghy ever.
 
2008 Hypalon air deck Avon. Design's OK but all the thick bits, rubbing strake, etc has fallen off and required repair. Hypalon, a Du Pont product isn't made any more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypalon

The stuff my boat's made of delaminated when barnacles took up temporary residence.
 
An interesting observation, Vyv.

My hypalon dinghy is now 8 years old, in the Med, and the only bits coming off are the stuck-on bits. The main structure (including the airdeck with 5 patches) is perfectly OK.

Welded pvc might make a lot of sense (lighter and cheaper) and the relatively inferior UV performance outweighed by that.

My studies suggest Lodestar and Caribe are outstandingly better made than most other ranges, but at a price (both cash and weight).
But in the final analysis, you seem to get what you pay for...
 
My neighbour was complaining about their Lodestar this morning. The majority of the boat is fine but the blue rubbing strake has broken down, the rubber is chalking and marks everything it touches. They have bought a new rubbing strake and hope to glue it over the old one.

A very elderly Quicksilver is on our pontoon. The hull is OK, although currently with a puncture. Every glued joint seems to have broken down, the rubbing strake is barely attached and all the parts that on ours have begun to fail have totally done so on it.
 
1999 Zodiac dinghy (10ft)- problems to date, glue began (as expected) to fail, the floor re-done (200 euro) by professional last August did the best he could. Little air gaps patched over the last few seasons. Out in the Med Sun every day
 
We had an AquaPro 2.4m hypalon rib with an aluminium floor, for 5 1/2 years, all the handles fell of it as did the oarlocks, but it was great in Europe; but only lasted 1 year in the Caribbean before the floor decided to part company with the sponsoms.

We now have a 12' AB rib, with two teenagers and a bunch of musical equipment the best thing we have bought in ages, even if we do have to tow it everywhere!

I think the average life for a good quality dingy/rib out here is 5 - 10 years.
 
Waveline 2.7 air deck. absolutely awful, everything has fallen off bit by bit, the rowlocks, oar clips the rope holders the handles have gone, the rubbing strip is falling off, and did I mention about the transom that keeps falling out.
Ive tried all sorts of glue, single part, 2 pack you name it. 3 days ago it had a tubes worth of sikaflex so will see how that does.
Ill make it last the year then look for a hard bottom in Turkey. Dinghy that is!!
 
Suzumar tender and outboard combo purchased May 2002. Lightly used until 2006 then very heavy use. Outboard mounting plate corroded in 5 minutes. Painted with hammerite and still good.

Started to suffer in the tropics so had a topside cover made in Brazil in 2008. Grab ropes were rubbish and fell apart. Seat support webbing replaced in 2009. Most brass eyelets fell out.

During southern summer 2012/13 tow points showing wear, bumper strip peeling off in places, rowlocks fell off and floor inflation valve developed a slow leak.

Tubes and exterior floor still in very good condition. Heat gun, glue and a new valve should sort out the problems and I expect many more years of use. Some galvanic corrosion at oar joints.

Suzuki 2.2 two stroke outboard still running well. Exposed plastic suffers in the tropics. Now have a cover. Metal work corroded in places. Still starts first or second pull. Serviced once back in 2004. Motor has never liked long distances since new. If run for more than about 20 minutes it refuses to start or runs at very low power. I think this may be a cooling issue.

Chose this combo because it was cheap but doubt spending more would have given me better performance.

Happy customer. Thanks Suzumar.
 
First zodiac died after about 17 years from UV degradation.

Honwave with aluminium floor has been traded on due to its weight, and I have a nice new RibEye aluminium Rib with Hypalon tubes. I get to play with it for the first time this weekend!
 
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