Dinghy Chaps - a good or bad idea?

[derfy]

It is time to consider replacing our old Caribe with something new, and I notice a lot of dinghies fitted with chaps. At first it seemed to be an intuitively good idea, but after considering it for a while I have wondered if these chaps might do as much damage as good.

I would like to hear from those who put chaps on a new dinghy, and if they would do it again after a few years of use?

Our dinghy is on davits year round (no shade from solar - my panels are mounted elsewhere), and we cruise the East Coast and Bahamas/Caribbean from North Carolina. It gets used. I have a sunbrella dinghy cover that I drape over the dinghy on its davits, but it is a pain to get on and off, bulky to store, and is usually left at home. I like to keep the dinghy ready to go as an extra safety factor when underway.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience with chaps. Cheers....

[Muaddib1116]

How would chaps damage a dinghy?

[derfy]

Originally Posted by Muaddib1116

How would chaps damage a dinghy?

I can imagine that the fabric might wear down the underlying material if the dinghy is used frequently, or trap heat and moisture and cause material or adhesives to fail. Don't know, might take years to learn, and wondered if anybody had regretted using one.

I once draped a canvas tarp over a stored boat, and discover the next spring the wind had blown the tarp and worn away the gelcoat, and trapped dirt under the tarp. That, I might add, has nothing to do with this. But it made me wonder.

[Muaddib1116]

I don't have chaps, but only because they are expensive to have made and I don't have the skills to make my own. I have yet to read of any case of them doing damage to the dinghy itself.

It is something that I've been wondering about, why the manufacturers don't sell premade chaps for their own dinghy models. It would be much easier for them to template them out for all their different models, than for custom canvas makers to make them one-off. It wouldn't take much for them to make well fitting chaps with clever factory installed attachment points. And given the margins on that sort of item being made in asia (where all the dinghies are made), they would make a ton of money.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by Muaddib1116

I don't have chaps, but only because they are expensive to have made and I don't have the skills to make my own. I have yet to read of any case of them doing damage to the dinghy itself.

It is something that I've been wondering about, why the manufacturers don't sell premade chaps for their own dinghy models. It would be much easier for them to template them out for all their different models, than for custom canvas makers to make them one-off. It wouldn't take much for them to make well fitting chaps with clever factory installed attachment points. And given the margins on that sort of item being made in asia (where all the dinghies are made), they would make a ton of money.

I can't know why, but if chaps where a bad thing, the mfr's would not sell them because it would increase their warranty costs.

[sailorboy1]

I say they are a great idea. Just check the price difference between a pvc dinghy and a halyon dinghy. I had never used a sewing machine and have now made 2 with a $72 sewing machine I got from Walmart. My first set I did all the work while the boat. Second I did on land so had a table to use and fancy. Materials cost name about $300

[SV Confianza]

I think the chaps we had on our old caribe are why it lasted almost 20 years.

I did not pay the money for new chaps for our new highfield, but instead am keeping coated with 303 and building a solar arch over it.

[Muaddib1116]

You're applying 303 directly to your dinghy tubes? It says not to apply to Vinyl or Rubber.

[sailorboy1]

dinghy "protectant" didn't help the pvc dinghy I had 4 years ago, meanwhile the one I just replaced that had chaps was 4 years old and the tubes looked perfect

[GreenWave]

Chaps, if done right, are 100% a benefit to longevity of any dinghy. We have a Caribe with chaps, and while I have only owned this dinghy since 2020, it was first put into service in 2011 (with chaps). It is in very good shape. When this dinghy dies I will likely buy the same model so I can reuse the chaps (note: current chaps are second set since inception). Wash the chaps, keep everything tight, and it will surely extend the life of the dinghy.

[grantmc]

Buy a 'hard' dinghy. they never wear out.

[wrwakefield]

A 20 year old Caribe came with our boat. The previous owners were in the tropics, and always had chaps on the RIB. We have now been using it full time for an additional 9 years. We had to replace the original chaps 3 years ago. The dinghy still looks very good. (We do remove chaps every couple of years and treat the hypalon tubes with 303 Protectant.)

Here is a photo (from this blog post about building new chaps) of the then ~27 year old naked Caribe on the dock being fitted for new chaps.



If we can ever wear this dink out, we will likely go with something like a Bullfrog with a RIB design (for the stability we are used to...) but solid tubes as we have no need to collapse the dinghy for storage. (Our dink is also our primary life raft and can be very rapidly deployed from the davits by letting the electric lifting winch freefall...)

In case this helps.

Cheers! Bill

[Muaddib1116]

I'd love to see your davits, the smallest bullfrog tender is already 225lbs by itself.

[wrwakefield]

Davit details link included in my chaps post, above. (‘…rapidly deploying dink…’)

Brief reply because I’m using phone while shopping.

Cheers! Bill

[JPA Cate]

We had our RIB dinghy re-tubed with high quality PVC (it does come in different weights and grades). Within two weeks, we had made the first set of chaps for it, out of WeatherMax, which lasted roughly 7 years, two over guarantee, but looking pretty shoddy by then. We made a new cover for it out of Cadet grey Sunbrella that went on last September.

There are downsides to chaps, but I think they helped. Some PVC lasts only 5 years, and I have no way to know how ours would have done, uncovered. However, the portion of the tubes that wasn't covered looks not as pristine as the part that was...as if it is slightly stained. It is in daily use, and there was no sign of wear from our standing on the tubes and sitting on them.

Downsides: can trap dirt and be a place for spiders and insects to hide, a report by Hudson Force in one of the dinghy threads. We did not have this problem with our chaps, at least so far.

Ann