Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
Happy New year to everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted. I'm looking at various tenders for the coming year but I'm looking for advise.
My goal is to leave the tender in the water since I have access to a dinghy dock where my boat is moored. I'm currently looking at a 9ft AB hypalon rib with an aluminum bottom. I'm assuming it will need to be painted with anti-fouling paint.
Question 1: Should that be a "hard" paint like the kind used for a runabout or ablative?
Question 2: Is the aluminum rib going to hold up ok being in the water seasonally? Frankly I'd prefer fiberglass but I can get a great deal on an aluminum one.
I'm not a fan of aluminum in salt water, but any inflatable (even hypalon) isn't going to last forever--the aluminum probably won't be the first thing to go, unless it's attacked by stray current in your marina. I'm not surprised there's a "good deal" on an aluminum model in Newport...
You'll definitely need bottom paint--here's a thread with some good information on bottom paint for aluminum hulls. Non-copper-based ablatives will be fine--I use an ablative on my current boat that cruises in the mid-20s and can reach the high-30s. I'll never use hard paint again. I'd start with an epoxy primer under the bottom paint. The timing is important to making that work well.
Dave Bristle Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired), Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
I'm currently on a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor in Marathon Florida. There are 220 moorings and probably another 50 boats in the managed anchoring area. Only a tiny fraction of all the dinghys here have any bottom paint.
Most people here will, occasionally, take their dink over to Sombrero Beach, flip it over, scrub the bottom off and call it a day......
So if you have the ability to pull the dinghy out about once a month, you might be able to forget about bottom paint.
Davy J
2005 Gemini 105Mc PO 1987 C25 #5509 SR/SK Tampa Bay
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.