tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4773370276862539169.post3066693395333224041..comments2024-03-24T03:23:46.858-06:00Comments on This Rat Sailed: The "Car"Mike Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279932231094933575noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4773370276862539169.post-11695647270819473652014-04-10T16:07:49.283-06:002014-04-10T16:07:49.283-06:00Hey Jesse,
Yeah, the permanent address thing is a...Hey Jesse,<br /><br />Yeah, the permanent address thing is a pain. Seems the laws are contradictory...a lot of you must do this but you cannot.<br /><br />As for the dinghy, I was referring to the stuff for inflatables...not the automotive fix-a flat...but conceptually it is similar in use from what I can tell. The "ugly patch" is at a location near a handle so the patch was laid over a spot on the wall of the tube, the seam for the material that runs along the handles and up around the handle. To make things worse, the prior owner used what I can only assume is 4200 to "caulk up" where the patch continued to leak a little. The result is the tube holds air but does slowly leak over the course of a day. I was thinking the inflatable sealant might be the best option for sealing up the mess without making it much worse. I have no idea how to clean it up enough to make a real patch out of it short of cutting out a one square foot section of the tube including one of the handles...which isn't really worth doing I don't think.<br /><br />If I knew there was at least a chance at improvement with the inflatable sealant, I would probably buy a bottle. I don't mind pumping it up every few days, but twice a day is a bit annoying and I do wonder how long the 4200, or whatever it is, will continue to hold on. Other than this patch and a seam that may be leaking between the tubes and rigid bottom, the dinghy is in OK shape and seems a waste to just throw it away if I can get a little more life out of it.<br /><br />As for the motor, it's a 15hp 2-stroke. Subject of another post, but I think it is a diamond in the rough and well worth nursing back to health.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />-MikeMike Boydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14279932231094933575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4773370276862539169.post-89872080054548828402014-04-10T08:19:45.215-06:002014-04-10T08:19:45.215-06:00This permanent address thing is becoming a real pr...This permanent address thing is becoming a real problem. We need it for our driver's license, car registration, dinghy registration, USCG registration on the sailboat, and my gun license. For now we are switching everything to my Dad's house. He lives in the same state but is about 1.5 hours away. So we also got a local PO box to be our mailing address. But we will be in Hingham for the summer and Boston for the winter. So we ended up getting the PO box near my wife's work. Technically this is illegal since we are not actually living at my Dad's place. <br /><br />And when we leave in 18 months we will likely have to change everything again. We can use one of those mail forwarding services but you are not technically supposed to use those as your permanent address either. We want to keep driver's licenses when we go so we can rent cars but there are some significant tax problems with continuing to use my Dad's address (Massachusetts will charge you a tax for not having health insurance and we don't plan to have insurance when we go. I have no interest in throwing some of our limited kitty to the state because I don't have insurance). <br /><br />It's all a big pain in the ass!<br /><br />Sorry for the thread drift. Back to the dinghy.<br /><br />I know one person that used the "fix-a-flat" stuff and it didn't work very well. They do make a similar product that is meant for inflatables. You pour it in and inflate the tubes. You then have to rotate the dinghy for the next couple of hours or days while it sets. <br /><br />With the big ugly patch that leaks, the best thing to do is remove the patch and start all over again. This can be very time consuming and frustrating. After 3 years of doing this I bailed on our old dingy and we bought a new one this year. <br /><br />On the chaps, Sailrite has a good instruction set on how to make them. http://www.sailrite.com/Dinghy-Chaps-Instructions#.U0anwp3D-Co It looks to be a real big project. I also think it would cost a lot to have someone else make them. <br /><br />What kind of outboard did your boat come with?<br /><br />Fair winds,<br /><br />JesseAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com