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Got my Avon all scrubbed and ready for trips.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/29/2012 : 23:02:24

Our Avon roll up has been sitting forlorn in it's rack at the marina for months. Every time I walked past it it irritated me to see. The tubes had deflated enough that the fabric sagged & caught water in the upside down boat. It doesn't take long for growth of any kind to take hold here, so I had a little green pond on nestled in the bottom of my Avon. The last few times I've been down, I've been meaning to get it cleaned up, but other project kept taking precedence. Well, today was the day. Simple Green, scrub brush, and microfiber towel in hand I went at it. After about an hour's work, it actually looks pretty good for a nearly 18 year old inflatable (it's a '94). See the nasty green of the painter? That's what a lot of that bottom used to look like, except way nastier.

Now I just need to try out my new Coleman 5 HP outboard on it.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

Edited by - delliottg on 06/29/2012 23:05:05

awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2012 : 11:31:29

It looks good David.

If it is a rollup why not keep it rolled up all the time and under cover? It seems like that would keep it in the best condition. Ours normally lives in the quarter berth or at our house. I think it is a bit smaller than your Avon though, so pumping it up might be faster (it takes me about 5 minutes).

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2012 : 12:35:05

It's a 3.14m boat, but I think the biggest problem is it's weight. I think it weighs about 110 lbs. If I can stand it up on it's cones, I can grab the stern oar slats and wedge my shoulders into the nose area & carry it, but unwieldy is an understatement, especially if there's a wind. Rolling it up is also a chore, it sort of takes two men & a small boy to get it right (literally, this is a good crew to do it with). You must completely deflate it (the foot pump has a deflation valve which is handy). You must fold it <i>just so</i> or it'll never fit in the bag. You can leave the floor in to roll it, but it makes it harder (but if you take it out, it's a pain to get back in). In other words it's a chore. I purposely chose the bottom east-most rack on the dinghy rack at our marina so it would get minimal exposure to the sun. I wish now I'd chosen the middle rack right above it, just because it'd be easier to work on. Live & learn. The bag that it packs into is approaching 20 years old too, and it's seams aren't what they used to be, every time we pack it down and shove it into the bag, I can hear seams straining. However, when it's rolled up in it's bag, it'll fit in our dock locker, although with the new 5hp OB in there, (which <i>just</i> fits laying down), it might not any longer.

When we go to Blake Island or wherever, I've got 100' of good double braided polypropylene floating line that I tow it with. I'll keep it right on the port quarter (furthest from prop) tied to the port split stay eye next to the boarding ladder when we're in the marina or river, then let out the leash when we get into the bay.

When I got it, it had been used as a charter dinghy it's whole life (as far as the PO knew, he'd just gotten it with a charter boat he'd bought & wanted a RHIB instead). It came with no documentation, but I was able to figure out when it was made by it's HIN. Since I couldn't find an online manual for it, I wrote to Avon in the UK, and they promptly sent me one at no charge, which I thought was fabulous customer service. A manual for a 15 year old boat from across the pond at no expense to me other than some time & electrons.

I think if we made a slightly larger bag from Cordura or maybe even Sunbrella, with some slightly different seams and heavier-duty compression & carry straps I might be more inclined to roll it up & stow it away. It'd fit up in front of the mast I think, if you bungied it in place to the baby stay attachments on the stanchions.

Edited by - on

awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2012 : 19:20:01

Ah yes, that is a much larger and heavier boat than mine. We have the smallest Zodiac Zoom, it weighs a bit over 50lbs when packed and is pretty easy to inflate and deflate myself. It is fine with 2 adults, but isn't a high capacity dinghy. I prioritized packability over capacity, but realize that isn't everyone's ideal tradeoff.

It will sort of fit on our foredeck, although I haven't tried sailing with it there yet. I might have my first chance to use for a real purpose this upcoming weekend, so far I've just inflated it and tried it out in my marina. I'm going to Blake in late July with a crowded C-25 and it'll be used a lot there as well. I expect that it'll be easier to pack it up and put it away when we leave then to keep it inflated.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 07/01/2012 : 21:56:48

Yeah, that's significantly smaller than ours. We've used ours a bunch at Blake, we will usually anchor outside the kelp on the west side of the island (the least bumpiest usually) and row in when we need to. It's fun to row inside the kelp and then drift along above the sea life just to see what you can see.

When I bought this one, we had us, and two large dogs to transport, so I wanted a lot of stability. I've made the mistake of stepping down into a friend's not-so-stable dink and going swimming instead. Unfortunately we are down to just us now, no dogs to accompany any longer. But I can still carry nearly half a ton in my boat if I want to. I think the load rating is something like 870 lbs?

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