Two Big Problems with Caribe 10 RIB

[imagine2frolic]

My first Caribe came with the boat. The boat was purchased in St. Maarten, and there was no paperwork for it. It was bought in Venezuela where they are built. Once in Florida no go with registration even though I had the survey papers with the dinghy in the survey. They wanted a written bill of sale, so it took a couple of week, and I took that with the survey again. Before the woman even looked she pushed it away. This was in Floriduh.

Next week I was on a plane to S.F., and took my paperwork with me. Lady smiled, and said that would be X amount of $s. 2 different worlds that's for sure......i2f

[s/v Jedi]

I can be wrong here but isn't the US the only country that has titles for dinghies? That basically means you can never buy a 2nd hand one elsewhere and register it in the US....

I think the rest of the world regards the dinghy as a ship's tender and thus part of the mother-ship and it's registration.

cheers,
Nick.

[BlueSovereign]

Originally Posted by Hud3

Artigiana Battelli, S.A.

Thanks Hud

[Dedzaboy]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I can be wrong here but isn't the US the only country that has titles for dinghies? That basically means you can never buy a 2nd hand one elsewhere and register it in the US....

I think the rest of the world regards the dinghy as a ship's tender and thus part of the mother-ship and it's registration.

cheers,
Nick.

I've certainly never come across dinghy registration before, in Europe or anywhere else. Dinghies don't appear on our registration papers at all, as you say they're just accepted as being part of the mother-ship. I think the same applies to cycles and even small motorcycles.

[windsaloft]

I want to say that the dinghy registration racket, esp here in CA, is a funding means for the state. However, in Wyoming, where my legal residence is, and our documentation homeport, no rego needed unless it has a motor on it. So -- will probably register it there on next trip home, if I can do so without a HIN inspection, which now everyone seems into.

In any event -- have had some local contacts, and appreciate all the held!

[Vasco]

In Canada it's one of the few things that are still FREE. Wonder how long that will last.

[sv_makai]

We purchased our caribe in Ven and when we got to the states we were ale to regsitar is in MD with the bill of sale. The only issue was the vin number. It wasn't in the same format as the US but the they got it into the system. A new title and registration. Though I did have to pay tax on the purchase price.

[Kamaloha]

Regarding your #2 problem, water ingress between the hulls, I've got the same problem with my Caribe 9X. It's not leaking in any fittings because with my integral bow compartment all the fittings are in there, none are in the "air chamber". This afternoon I deflated the tubes then pressurized the hull with an air tank via the drain hole. What I found is that the hull-deck joint has separated along most of the starboard side. It's a huge leak and will be very troublesome to fix. Unless I can fix it the boat is literally dead in the water.

My thoughts are to clean it up as best I can then:

(1) Smooge the joint from the outside with 5200
-OR-
(2) squirt a quart of West System in through the drain hole then lean the boat up on its starboard side and let the epoxy drain down through the leak
-OR-
(3) Same as (2) but followed by air pressure to drive it into the joint
-OR-
(4) Same as (3) but with fix-a-flat instead of epoxy

I'm kind of leaning toward (3). My main worries are that it could make a heck of a mess, and it will be difficult to get all the water out of the air chamber and thus the joint before trying the fix - I've discovered West does not take at all kindly to trying to cure in the presence of water.

Any other ideas lurking out there?

[s/v Jedi]

You should separate the hypalon from the starboard side to get access to the joint. Clean it, dry it, acetone it, epoxy it with thick mixture with medium density microfibers filler, clamp it. After that, glue hypalon back onto it. Good as new.

p.s. Air pressure will blow the epoxy out through the separation, making things worse.

ciao!
Nick.

[Kamaloha]

Thanks for the idea, Jedi, but I think I would destroy the tubes doing that. The taped joint that holds the tubes to the hull is on the outside of the boat, whereas the hull-deck joint is on the inside waaaay down in the very tight space between the inside of the tube and the hull. If I actually separate the taped seam, which is currently intact, I'll never be able to repair it; I've had zero luck with the two-part contact adhesives used for hypalon repair; I've tried to replace handles and oarlocks in the past and the repairs have never lasted more than a month. The tube is not loose/large enough to be able to invert it so that it exposes the hull-deck joint. I can just barely slide my fingertips down in there and feel the edge of the joint, which is how I felt my test air escaping, but there is a lip that faces downward so the opening of the joint itself is on the bottom. I've taken degreaser and a toilet brush and cleaned out the area as best as I can, but access is so difficult that I'd never be able to clean it adequately for a surface repair like you describe. As best as I can tell with my fingertips the deck has a lip that folds over the edge of the hull, so even if I detached the tube I wouldn't be able to stick anything into the joint itself.

My thought with the air pressure by the way is not to leave it on, but merely to apply it long enough to see epoxy dripping out the outside telling me I forced it into the joint. I'd then level the boat upside down so the lip would keep any more from dripping out. However I just can't see a way to assure I'd get the epoxy distributed onver the whole joint on the inside of the hull when my only access is the drain hole. I supposed I could install a little access hatch inthe deck, but I don't think it is worth that much trouble...

Maybe just filling the area between the tube and the hull with a fat gob of 5200 and then inflating the tubes again is the way to go.

This is a very old boat and I really need to just replace it, but it's the end of the season up here so no one has what I'm looking for in stock. I'm hoping to make this last one more season so I can buy a new boat in the Caribbean.

Many years ago when I worked in the avionics industry we used to use a two-part potting compound that cured to a dense but still flexible rubber-like material, but was thin and poured easily when first mixed. That would be the ideal stuff to use; pour into the hull, force it into the gap with air pressure, then let it cure. Since it was a NASA budget it probably cost a bejillion dollars a pint though.

[s/v Jedi]

Kamaloha,

You separate the hypalon from the fiberglass using one of those "safety razor blades" like for removing paint from a glass window. With the hypalon out of the way, you do get access to the joint. Gluing it back really works, this is how the factory did it too. When gluing hypalon fails, there is an error in the prep work in 90% of the cases. The other 10% is due to not allowing to dry the glue long enough before joining the parts or not recognizing that the glue is too old or the wrong type.

I never had the need for 2-component glue but made successful repairs with 1 component hypalon glue that lasted for ever. The trick is de-greasing, not with degreaser because that leaves a residue, use acetone. After that you need to sand the area with grit 80, apply glue to both parts and let it dry for the recommended time before joining the parts.

I didn't realize your dinghy was that old. I think you can try this: get an epoxy stick for use on fiberglass. Clean the area with a rag and acetone as good as possible. Cut off small pieces from the stick, knead them and roll/form them into 1/4" thick round pieces and press these into the joint. When done, inflate the dinghy hard and don't touch for 24 hours, keeping fingers crossed.

ciao!
Nick.

[GordMay]

I believe that the preferred solvents for Hypalon are Toluene or Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK), over Acetone.

[onestepcsy37]

never tried this with a rib, but have with a hard dinghy.

how about just filling the space in the bottom with two part foam? the difficult part would be getting the two parts into the entire hull before they began to expand (unless you cut a hole in the top of the bottom) and, of course, not putting too much two part in there - it expands pretty rapidly.

or would that 'foam in a can' stuff work? don't know if it absorbs water or not, but you could experiment with it for not much money.....

[s/v Jedi]

Using foam is an experiment that will end with a big mess and a dinghy on the trash heap ;-)

What will happen if you get the foam to the area where the hull is separated is that the foam will push them further apart, come out of the split and mess everything up!

When you let expanding foam skin without touching it, it is waterproof, but not good enough for long time exposure/immersion in water.

cheers,
Nick.

[onestepcsy37]

jedi, i've only done this once, and that was to a hard dinghy. the seats were 'air chambers' that provided floatation, but after punching a hole in one i decided to foam all three of them. cut a four inch square on top of each seat, dumped in two part and stirred rapidly, and it did a pretty good job of filling up the tank. then i glassed over the holes i had cut.

my thought on the rib was that the foam would not so much provide floatation but just fill up the area that might otherwise be occupied by water. and no, i have no idea if that foam in a can stuff would absorb water but i may just go out and buy some and then test it in a barrel.....