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I got a really old and broken inflatable dinghy off Craigslist about 2 months ago for $30, and am rebuilding/restoring it. Right now, I'm about 16 individual H

by qchris 7y ago

I got a really old and broken inflatable dinghy off Craigslist about 2 months ago for $30, and am rebuilding/restoring it. Right now, I'm about 16 individual Hypalon patches and 2/3 a quart of internal sealant in, with one tube finally sealed and the other most of the way. Once that's done (in an garage test, anyway), I'll bring it to a local stream to if it floats. If it does, moving on to building a floor out of plywood and putting together an electric trolling motor setup. I'm dubious it'll ever be actually seaworthy, but I'm picking up all sorts of little skills and experiences along the way, like troubleshooting a Halkey-Roberts valve this morning that only partially sealed.

chrisdalke 7y ago
That's really exciting! Marine projects can be a lot of fun. The feeling of being out on the water on a craft that you built/repaired yourself is really great, and makes all the hard work worth it. What size/model is the boat? Depending on your interests, you could even explore a more powerful electric motor and try to get it up on plane. There are lots of people out there building powerful DIY electric drivetrains (eg. https://efoil.builders/ https://efoil.builders/ for e-foils). Have fun!
- qchris 7y ago
  I believe it's an ~8' ft. long RIS/Sportnautik from Croatia (have had some trouble finding any more specific information than that, at least through site pages I can use Google Translate on). That's really neat about the e-foil site- I'll definitely have to look more into that, I'm sure it could be a really interesting addition if/when I get this up and running! I know trying to put together a corrosion-resistant drivetrain assembly would be a fun challenge.
  - chrisdalke 7y ago
    Ah, cool. Most of the people on that site are doing sealed underwater pod motors (much like a trolling motor) and even though those projects are all hydrofoils, a lot of the same advice for waterproofing brushless motors applies for a conventional boat. FWIW here's a really cheesy video for an electric outboard project I did back in college: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elw9DDL6wTM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elw9DDL6wTM

by qchris 7y ago

chrisdalke 7y ago

That's really exciting! Marine projects can be a lot of fun. The feeling of being out on the water on a craft that you built/repaired yourself is really great, and makes all the hard work worth it. What size/model is the boat? Depending on your interests, you could even explore a more powerful electric motor and try to get it up on plane. There are lots of people out there building powerful DIY electric drivetrains (eg. https://efoil.builders/ https://efoil.builders/ for e-foils). Have fun!

qchris 7y ago
I believe it's an ~8' ft. long RIS/Sportnautik from Croatia (have had some trouble finding any more specific information than that, at least through site pages I can use Google Translate on). That's really neat about the e-foil site- I'll definitely have to look more into that, I'm sure it could be a really interesting addition if/when I get this up and running! I know trying to put together a corrosion-resistant drivetrain assembly would be a fun challenge.
- chrisdalke 7y ago
  Ah, cool. Most of the people on that site are doing sealed underwater pod motors (much like a trolling motor) and even though those projects are all hydrofoils, a lot of the same advice for waterproofing brushless motors applies for a conventional boat. FWIW here's a really cheesy video for an electric outboard project I did back in college: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elw9DDL6wTM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elw9DDL6wTM