On Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 08:01:58PM -0400, JohnB wrote: > Thanks Vern, > > It is a Zodiac French version Hypalon.
I'd suggest talking to a professional. An honest one will just tell you if it's not worth repairing. Depending on your situation, something that might be worth considering is the "I don't care how it looks, just make it work" option: cut a canvas patch that's much larger (e.g., 5-10x) than the hole, wet it and the dinghy surface out with 5200, slap the two together, smooth the edges, and let it cure for a week or so. This will give you a dinghy that will look "less than perfect" - you probably won't be able to sell it for much - but it will float, and it will stay inflated. Zodiacs have a long history of floors coming unglued; a brand new one nearly drowned a friend of mine in the Bahamas, back in the early 90s. Shortly after that, I heard that Zodiac was revising their methods and their glues completely, etc. - but given all the stories I kept hearing from people using them, it appears that nothing significant has actually changed. When I visited a dinghy repair guy that I knew right before leaving St. Augustine, just a few months back, he had a brand new Zodiac up on the rack, with the floor hanging half-way out of it. He told me that it was a warranty repair on a failed floor - and that he does this kind of major repairs on Zodiacs constantly. Based on my personal experience, if and when I buy another dinghy, I'll stick with an AB or a Caribe (essentially the same thing) - or, if I get a really good deal (or get filthy rich), an Avon. Those are the only brands I know of that survive years of sun abuse in the Caribbean. Avons do so to a ridiculous extent: when I was sailing those waters in the late 90s, I saw a number of black Avons... which, given Avon's color scheme changes, means that they were made in the 1940s. Heck of an impressive thing - especially given that, e.g., Metzelers tend to delaminate in just a few months in that environment. -- * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET * _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
