Bombard 380 Aerotec floor repair advice needed

[Curlycraig]

Repair advice needed!

After leaving our much loved Bombard 380 Aerotec inflated on a trailer over the winter, we've found the black floor has separated from the starboard tube, starting 2 inches from the transom up to just in front of the seat. i.e. just over half the length of the boat. Both inner and outer flaps that attach the floor to the red tube have pulled away. On the port side the inner flap has pulled away in a couple of places for a couple of inches, but overall the rest seems OK.

- Assuming it's reparable, is it something I could take on myself, or does it need to go to a specialist?

- If it's something I can tackle (preferred), which glue, and any tips on how?

Thanks!

Craig

PS Belated thanks to this forum, which has helped us move from 'what dinghy shall I get from the family?' 4 years ago piece by piece to the Aerotec, Yamaha 2St 15HP, steering assembly, trailer

[Landlockedpirate]

Typical Zodiac group glue failure I'm afraid, it seems to effect red boats the most !

The good news is that repairing it simply takes time, patience and minimal cash.

The bad new is that once one bit of glue starts to fail, the rest will follow quickly, the transom will fall of next.

If you are handy, all the glued parts need to be removed, old glue cleaned off and parts reattached using the correct PVC 2 part glue (available from most chandlers or RibShop, Ribstore etc).

If you are not very handy then the cost of a professional repair will probably write the boat off. However the value of the boat is not all lost, it will still fetch 2-300 on Ebay as spares or repair.

Do a search for Zodiac transom repair to get an idea of the work needed.

[Curlycraig]

Thanks for the swift reply Landlockedpirate

I'm very happy there's a good chance I can recover the boat - thanks for brightening up my day!. The various Polymarine and other sites are very helpful.

And yes, you're right, on closer inspection it does look like the original adhesive is beginning to give way elsewhere along the sides. The transom looks OK at present - would it make sense for the transom be reglued at a later stage when it also gives way, and I just remove and reglue both sides up to the bow for now? (just feels like a less daunting job!)

[Peter_C]

I would recommend doing the entire boat in one shot. That way it will not fail in the future for years to come.

You can do some reading here.
http://www.rib.net/forum/f45/how-to-...pvc-50783.html
http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/zodiac-...air-48320.html
http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/transom...sib-54358.html
http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/zodiac-repairs-52156.html
http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/glue-removal-49451.html
Roller Rasp Hand Tool at nrs.com
http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/tropik-...ect-48662.html

[Landlockedpirate]

The problem with Zodiac glue is that its is all or nothing.

The transom may look fine but if the rest of the glue has started to fail, the transom will fail as well. It will probably happen as soon as you pop it on the plane.

Dad had a red AX2 as a tender, he was kneeling in it while he polished the hull of his sticky boat when he realised his knees were wet. Turned round to see the transom, complete with engine, laying flat on the water. No warning, just fell off.

Its a painful pill to swallow but all the boat needs re-glueing, not just the bits that have unstuck themselves.

[Curlycraig]

Thanks for the great links Peter C. And both, yes, get the message - looks like I'll need a weekend or two to swallow that bitter pill ;-)