Exchange of inflatable hulls on dinghies

[ak5609]

Hello, I'm just wondering, if its possible to exchange the inflatable hulls of a caribe dinghy. The Fiberglas bottom on our 10 years old dinghy is still in good condition.

Thank you.

[chrisr]

short answer : yes. not at all uncommon

longer anwer : contact the manufacturer. price and availability may be a problem

good luck

cheer,

ps : we also have a caribe and love it

[motion30]

The way I understand it unless it is 15' or over it's probably not worth the money or trouble. I assume you are talking about putting new tubes on your boat

[ak5609]

Yes, exactly. That's the idea.

[Franziska]

I checked that few weeks ago with some UK companies for a 2.9m RIB. Prices were more than 2000€, so financially it's not really viable.
Environmentally I like the idea though because the hull does not get thrown away..

If it's not to bad, you could patch and paint it. The paint offers some protection for old fabric too.

See my recent RIB renovation thread. I share a bit of my experience with various glues.

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...d.php?t=273017

[Jim Cate]

^^^^
We have re-tubed our 3.5m Gemini twice now. First time was after it was stolen and burned, second when those "new" tubes died of old age and hard times. Both times the cost was roughly one half of a new and similar dinghy. Since the hull had no issues other than cosmetic, for us it was a no-brainer to re-tube rather than replace.

YMMV.

Jim