Livingston dinghy cleanup

K

K7MXE

New member
I ended up with a 7 foot Livingston dinghy. My friend picked it up for me and followed instructions on how to look for damage but I had not thought about how clean it might be. Well looks like it spent its entire life in fresh water with all the sins of being in the water. Has a very brown tint to it. Has set low in the water a few times too. I tried oil remover cleaner from Costco and did nothing but had some luck with Comet cleaner but wonder if anyone has a easy answer that wont eat holes in the hull. Looks like a lot of years of oil, exhaust and anything else the city of Seattle could dump in Lake Union.
Just simply brown colored. I also tried to use the serial number info from the Ranger tug forum but did not work to get the year of manufacture.

Bob Heselberg, in Eatonville Washington
 
Try a dilution of muriatic acid. It is cheap at the hardware store. Buy a spray bottle and use rubber gloves and eye protection. Spray it on, let it set for 30 seconds, wipe and flush it with fresh water. Try it on an inconspicious spot first to see how much dilution it takes.

Other concerns about using this stuff: it will eat the galvanizing off a trailer. It is generally used to clean concrete, so if you use it in the driveway, don't let it get on your lawn. You will need to rewax the boat when you're done.

I am not a boat refinisher, nor do I play one on TV... but this has worked for me when cleaning hulls on other boats we've owned. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited by law. Not for internal use. Do not allow children to play with this product. You snooze, you lose. You can lead a horse to water, but if you can make him float on his back, you've really got something.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Bob & Friends,
We're going out to look at dinghys today. We were thinking about an inflatable that would be light enough to either tow or put on top of the bimini top supports while cruising.
Any recommendations on models or places to buy from?
Thanks,
 
Thanks to all for the replies. I will stop at the big box store today and get some acid. I did try car paint thinner and bounced off this brown stuff.
I picked the Livingston because the factory was going to offer a dinghy from Livingston as a option and thought it might be a easy way to hang it on the back of the boat. This one is seven foot long and the boat is only six feet wide back there so will be a bit of overhang. I tried a fiberglass 5.5 foot pram and was way too unstable for this old fat boy but it could be hauled aboard easily and left on the motor box. Not a lot of great places to put a dinghy on board the boat and being in the past I have lost a dinghy towing it I decided that was not great way to go either.
Hopefully the acid wash will get it at least mostly white again or get it clean enough for fresh paint. I will make another post when its a done deal.
Bob Heselberg near Eatonville Wa
 
I believe I have read most of the posts regarding dinghies. I still have some questions that I don't believe have been addressed.

With kayaking as my point of reference:

I am used to learning to do a wet exit followed by recovery practice at the very beginning of learning/teaching one to to paddle. Is there something comparable folks do with the C-Dory? Do others practice in Lake WA for example? And do we have a common protocol for an emergency with someone in the water? Victim(s) first of course and with boats our size do others stabilize/board the boat if possible?

On another topic, since we need small boats when we anchor out, I am curious how members decide on whether to go with the inflatable or hardshell. If a huge rogue wave appeared or a bad collision might happen I would not have time to inflate anything.

Yet with a hardshell comes more weight and bulk, and therefore challenging to lift/store them high up. I see how inboards carry them on the back but what about those who have outboards?

Does this mean that towing a dinghy is seen as the most practical given the (my) perceived need for something immediately available and accessible?

And doesn't towing come with its own set of issues, especially when manuevering?

From what I am reading it probably is all a set of trade-offs. Cost, weight, personal strength, fast response, etc. There are so many variables that I am wondering how to decide.

Once again I welcome your input.

Thanks in advance,

Anne
 
An inflatable carried on the cabin top would seem to meet most of the requirements.

Carried inflated on the cabin top, the dingy is readily available for dingy use and also for emergency use.
 
Thanks,
That does answer the needs, and if it doesn't pop in the summer sun even better! And this seems to be the system Bill and El mentioned in a prior post so I will be prepared to keep a lightweight inflatable ready to go on top, and also replace as needed.
Anne
 
You said it....a series of trade offs. I used solid dinghies for years until I decided I wanted something I could easily carry myself. Keeping an inflatable flat in a box will render it too much of a pain when you want to use it or if you need it for an emergency. Towing is a problem because the faster you go the longer the line you need to keep it behind the wake.

I settled on a 6.5' Mercury inflatable and love it. It technically carries two but it's most comfortable with just one. It's easy for one person to carry, easy to stow up top, and I can plane off with a 3.5 HP engine! I find it very stable and so far rugged. Comes with a 5 year warranty. You have to anticipate the temp changes. In the hot sun the pressure will increase so let out a little air before you stow it up top. When it hits the water keep in mind the pressure will reduce so fill it up plump before you splash it. You will figure out the right pressure combinations. Stow the small outboard on a rail mount if you have an extra bit of rail space.
 
We wrestled with this same question, hard-soft, powered-oars, etc. and settled for an inflatable weighing about 40 pounds carried inflated on the cabin top and oar powered. The weight was a significant factor for us. I like many of the more expensive inflatables but that hypalon weighs a lot and not being a spring chicken any more chose a Stearns inflatable with a good exterior shell to protect the air chambers. There have been several discussions of this question on the site and a search for "dinghies" or "dinghy" should yield a lot of information.
 
Although we have towed "dinghies" up to 20 feet behind larger boats, we are generally opposed to this, due to risks of flipping the dinghy, loosing the dinghy (painter parting, filling with water etc) and problems maneuvering.

Except for ocean racing, where a certified life raft was required, we did with an inflatable (along with a sunbrella top, and lightweight frame, an abandon ship kit etc). We kept a CO2 bottle attatched to the valves of the inflatable for emergency inflation.

The chance of having to use a life raft in a C dory is quite remote. But we do carry our small inflatable, inflated on the top of the cabin. (6' 7" 38 lbs or 9' 4" 58 lbs.) These small inflatables are easy to put on top of the cabin from the side of the boat.
If we are carrying a larger inflatable, we keep it in the cockpit.

We have also carried hard dinghies (fiberglass and aluminum), as well as RIB inflatables, but only in larger boats. For us they are just too cumberson for the C Dory size boats. The advantages of the hard dinghy is that they row better and are more durable for landing on rocks and sharp barnicle encrusted beaches.
 
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