Repairing a stitch and glue ply epoxy dinghy

webcraft said:
Rich buffoons constantly get away with making poor peoples' lives miserable is intolerable.
- W
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Hey Webcraft, I believe that the owner's a hereditary Lord, who's got an estate in the borders.
You'll maybe bump into him on Friday (the glorious) 12th at a driven shoot????
What? ;)
 
It's going to be a straight forward insurance claim unless the charter party and skipper are willing to dig into their pockets and fork out £3,000. The down side is that it will take more than a few weeks to sort. Get as much as you can for it when the insurance offer comes in, if you can buy it back for nothing and rebuild in the meantime find the cheapest dinghy you can and repair the original at your leisure.
It was an accident caused by inexperience incompetence but they happen all the time sailing boats and yachtsmen are not immune from having them, it's what insurance is for.
 
webcraft said:
You think he should just suck it up and let it go?

He may end up having to, but in the meantime I would make as much fuss as possible. Perhaps pressure the owner/skipper just to settle for cash?

Rich buffoons constantly get away with making poor peoples' lives miserable is intolerable.

Perhaps time to mount a bow chaser.

- W
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The dinghy mast breaks down in to two halves, which join at a 45 degree angle. Basically it's two sharp aluminium spears. From now on I will be stowing them with a very healthy overhang that goes beyond the davits. Any maybe a spinnaker pole out each side. I'm going for a sort of seagoing schiltron effect.
 
Kelpie said:
The dinghy mast breaks down in to two halves, which join at a 45 degree angle. Basically it's two sharp aluminium spears. From now on I will be stowing them with a very healthy overhang that goes beyond the davits. Any maybe a spinnaker pole out each side. I'm going for a sort of seagoing schiltron effect.
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Kelpie said:
The dinghy mast breaks down in to two halves, which join at a 45 degree angle. Basically it's two sharp aluminium spears. From now on I will be stowing them with a very healthy overhang that goes beyond the davits. Any maybe a spinnaker pole out each side. I'm going for a sort of seagoing schiltron effect.
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But ineffective if the opposition has archers!
 
webcraft said:
You think he should just suck it up and let it go?

He may end up having to, but in the meantime I would make as much fuss as possible. Perhaps pressure the owner/skipper just to settle for cash?

Rich buffoons constantly get away with making poor peoples' lives miserable is intolerable.

Perhaps time to mount a bow chaser.

- W
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He is headed across to theA ericasI believe why compound an accident and problems,puttheinsurancein action and get on with the cruise and fixing the dinghy
 
Fr J Hackett said:
He shouldn't touch the dinghy until the insurance claim is settled.
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Yes I understand that but is he going this year could be months who knows .Alternative is fix the dinghy not too difficult and get on with their world cruise…..old webcraft is lining up a battle ofthe classes?
 
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Kelpie Didn’t spend years planning to get where he is and because of an error decide to screw whoever for insurance money if he can fix the dinghy say fora hundred quid fix it why worry about anything else get on with your life.The trip the voyage is the aim not getting thousands out of an insurance company.
 
I'm no expert in marine insurance but could the problem be handed to a loss adjuster? Who's fees are added to the claim of course. This seems to the a common thing in automotive claims I believe.
Also, stern chasers are so 18th century. The modern way is CIWS. Needs a good battery bank though
 
I concur pragmatically with what Fr Hackett sees.
I myself have a nesting aluminium dinghy which is v dear to me
Friends built a beautiful FOAM SANDWICH dinghy once they got to the Caribbean
And I think Geen of this parish put up photos of his foam sandwich dinghy ..
Might you consider -once across the pond- building a mark 2 with all that knowledge gleaned from building and using the current one ..using funds sourced from the mobo/insurance putting you back into the position where you were prior to impact ?i
Once arbitrage is done I would patch it with grinding , ply patches or glass /cloth /epoxy and sail away.
once you have built a mark 2 you might sell the repaired dinghy on for a modest profit ?
Not everyone wants the ubiquitous rib ..
 
I'm not trying to make money out of this. I just want my dinghy back. I have five weeks until I leave Mallorca and there is no way any outside party is going to get anything done in that time. I'm not going to sit around being grumpy- that would just end up with us sailing away and leaving the dinghy behind. That's simply not an option.

The advice from the designer is really good, I feel confident that the repair will be sound. I have sent my shopping list to the other skipper. Work starts tomorrow.

I was getting bored of going to the beach anyway ?
 
Blueboatman said:
I concur pragmatically with what Fr Hackett sees.
I myself have a nesting aluminium dinghy which is v dear to me
Friends built a beautiful FOAM SANDWICH dinghy once they got to the Caribbean
And I think Geen of this parish put up photos of his foam sandwich dinghy ..
Might you consider -once across the pond- building a mark 2 with all that knowledge gleaned from building and using the current one ..using funds sourced from the mobo/insurance putting you back into the position where you were prior to impact ?i
Once arbitrage is done I would patch it with grinding , ply patches or glass /cloth /epoxy and sail away.
once you have built a mark 2 you might sell the repaired dinghy on for a modest profit ?
Not everyone wants the ubiquitous rib ..
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Maybe one day I would like to build again. I would choose the 10ft version, still plenty big enough but I suspect much easier to get on and off deck.
There are times when I wish we had a RIB and a big outboard to go with it. But I'm not crossing an ocean with a RIB in davits, and it won't fit on deck, so it's a moot point anyway.
I think a RIB would obviously be faster, possibly drier in a chop, and less fragile. I get a bit jealous of people at dinghy docks just bumping against the concrete, whilst I'm fending off and laying a stern anchor.
But you can't sail it around the anchorage, and they're about as fun to row as a half full skip. Our dinghy rows beautifully. We've been away for over a year now and in that whole time I've bought 10l of petrol for the outboard.
 
Or talk to your own insurer and get them to sort it out. They should be able to settle pretty quickly and they can worry about who should reemburse them.
 
Kelpie said:
Maybe one day I would like to build again. I would choose the 10ft version, still plenty big enough but I suspect much easier to get on and off deck.
There are times when I wish we had a RIB and a big outboard to go with it. But I'm not crossing an ocean with a RIB in davits, and it won't fit on deck, so it's a moot point anyway.
I think a RIB would obviously be faster, possibly drier in a chop, and less fragile. I get a bit jealous of people at dinghy docks just bumping against the concrete, whilst I'm fending off and laying a stern anchor.
But you can't sail it around the anchorage, and they're about as fun to row as a half full skip. Our dinghy rows beautifully. We've been away for over a year now and in that whole time I've bought 10l of petrol for the outboard.
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My lovely dink came from Neal of this parish but there was a 10ft version ( a bit bigger) I think which some say is the ideal length
But obv, more cumbersome
I haven’t got around to arranging a string of tired old fenders all around but I think that would take care of the parking abrasions a bit ..
I agree , hanging a heavy inflatable off the stern is not an attractive option always
-?and may I borrow your description of their skip-like rowing tendencies? Its very good ?
 
My solution to the fendering was to split a length of 40mm PVC hose (the kind with the criss-cross fibre inside) and wrap that around the gunwales, secured as needed using small screws with washers. A tedious job because I had to fill each hole in the wood with epoxy as I went. And it doesn't look great, especially after a few months of Med sun, which has made the PVC go a bit tacky, and be therefore very grubby looking.
Any suggestions for another type of hose that would be better, less liable to go sticky or brittle in the sun?

I supplemented the PVC with large diameter pool noodles, which are held on using webbing running up their middles, tucked just below the gunwale. Again it looks pretty shoddy but it's very practical.
 
Kelpie said:
My solution to the fendering was to split a length of 40mm PVC hose (the kind with the criss-cross fibre inside) and wrap that around the gunwales, secured as needed using small screws with washers. A tedious job because I had to fill each hole in the wood with epoxy as I went. And it doesn't look great, especially after a few months of Med sun, which has made the PVC go a bit tacky, and be therefore very grubby looking.
Any suggestions for another type of hose that would be better, less liable to go sticky or brittle in the sun?

I supplemented the PVC with large diameter pool noodles, which are held on using webbing running up their middles, tucked just below the gunwale. Again it looks pretty shoddy but it's very practical.
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Heavy rope sisal rather than polypropylene
 
Kelpie said:
My solution to the fendering was to split a length of 40mm PVC hose (the kind with the criss-cross fibre inside) and wrap that around the gunwales, secured as needed using small screws with washers. A tedious job because I had to fill each hole in the wood with epoxy as I went. And it doesn't look great, especially after a few months of Med sun, which has made the PVC go a bit tacky, and be therefore very grubby looking.
Any suggestions for another type of hose that would be better, less liable to go sticky or brittle in the sun?

I supplemented the PVC with large diameter pool noodles, which are held on using webbing running up their middles, tucked just below the gunwale. Again it looks pretty shoddy but it's very practical.
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Yup the noodles are good ( and inexpensive to replace ) I used to use them on bare cockpit guard rails for leaning against too
I have what must be pipe insulation wrapped in lorry reinforced ( woven) pvc oilcloth .
Good for bumps, not so good against a wall I would think
The good old wee stern anchor on a weighted line works to keep off the quayside or bumpy beach
 
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