New/Old Dinghy

[Eastporter]

I bought a 1974 8' Eli trihull dinghy to get to my mooring. It is in decent shape, but the chines are looking a little beat due to 38 years of use (dragging on the beach, hitting rocks etc.). I have a bunch of fiberglass and epoxy left over from my rebuild and wondering if it is better to do the work now and beef it up, or wait until later. Looking for advice from people on the forum who have experience with fiberglass. My thought is to make it a brick sh*t house and put a layer of 1708 on both the inside and outside chines (about 6" wide), fair with Rage, prime, paint done. I want this dinghy to last another 38 years with minimal up keep. Ideas?

 

[F/V First Team]

Why not add a thin strip of starboard on the chines? Say a half inch wide by quarter inch thick, countersink your screw heads and should be spiff-o. I've been considering building myself a new dinghy and I'm thinking that it will have some starboard on the wear surfaces. Should hold up well.

 

[Eastporter]

Good idea. I might use some starboard on the bottom chines.

 

[cobia23]

I just "rebuilt" my little row boat, its an 8' pilot, I did the same thing your talking about, I used 1208 on the keel and chines. I also did new pour in foam for the bow and stern seats. I thought the floor was getting a little thin so I added a layer of 1208 on that as well. I used epoxy and while the boat looks brand new and is as strong as new, it definately gained a few pounds. I would just be careful with how much weight you add, 1708 "even 6" strips" will add some weight to her!! Like FV said I added runners to the bottom too, I had left over SS rub rail inserts that I used instead of starboard, worked out good.

 

[Eastporter]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I agree that additional weight is not good if I have to move it alone.