Like ‘Em Hard or Soft?

[Kestle]

Keep up with the plywood transom. My aft-season maintenance routine is to keep the transom painted. The tubes are PVC decitex fabric - I scrub the boat to remove debris, then aggressively wipe down the tubes with acetone (rubber glove PPE), slather on 2-3 coats of 303 UV protectant, let it dry and bag it. I will give it another coat of 303 mid summer. 13 years and I'm still awaiting the much hyped PVC plasticizer failure apocalypse! The great thing about the PVC decitex tubes is that you can patch them quickly, down'n'dirty and be underway in minutes - but you have to get that 303 off (acetone or MEK).

That is a GREAT idea! Now added to my list.

Jeff

 

[Tim R.]

In my experience acetone dissolves PVC. Is there something special about the type of PVC used on your boat?

 

[Kings Gambit]

Good list of + & -s.

If you put aside the eventual storage issue, the big question you maybe haven't explained is how do you plan to use the boat?

Hard bottoms are usually bigger.

Yeah-- the central question should first be: "How will I use it?" and then proceed from there. If you're going to frequently anchor out in remote places and want to "zip around" the area(s), perhaps as much as three or more miles from the motherboat, carrying your wife and picnic supplies, etc., in modest seas or less, then you need a rib or some other fiberglass bottom with a 10+ hp outboard which most likely will require the installation of davits to launch and recover easily. Just remember, however, that if going "blue water" long or far, carrying a heavy dink on davits might prove a liability under sail in big conditions.

If you need a dink just to go from the boat to a dinghy dock in semi-protected waters to buy a drink ashore or to fetch groceries, or to beach land, on twice-annual trips somewhere for a couple of weeks or less each, or on frequent weekenders, then I would get a 8-9 floot inflatable that you can stow aboard and the smallest 4-stroke outboard available for relatively easy lifiting. A heavy dink on the beach is very difficult to heft up above the high tide line so you can go exploring.

The last thing I would do now [although it has been successful for many cruisers] is buy a dinghy that I had to tow for long distances across open seas or channels. If you cannot bring it aboard and secure it while away from shore then get used to the idea that someday it will likely go its own direction!!

 

[knot smart]

I've owned both.. like everything in life , there is a compromise..i like the hard.. it feels better to stand in, feels more stable. But it's heavy.. it like dragging a sea anchor behind you..

 

[Gunni]

In my experience acetone dissolves PVC. Is there something special about the type of PVC used on your boat?

There a many formulations of PVC plastics, from rubbery beachballs to rigid pipe. Each have their own susceptibility to solvents. The solvent residence time is also important. Acetone is extremely volatile, when wiped on with a rag it simply does not stick around long enough to do much more than remove surface dirt, wax, UV protectant, oxidized plastic and enough surface polymer to allow for a glue bond. Acetone or MEK are the recommended prep for bonding to a decitex (PVC) surface.