Friday 16 September 2011

How to look after an inflatable boat


So you have done your research and hopefully have made a wise investment. With a little luck you have steered away from the chinese cheapo brands and have plumbed for something reassuringly substantial like one of the french makes - bombard zodiac inflatables, or a british avon, or maybe one of the high quality korean boats like Seapro. You have bought your new outboard engine to match the boat perfectly, possibly one of the offerings from Mariner outboards. Well if you have bought carefully there is pretty much no maintenance required of a good quality inflatable boat. If you use it in salt water then its a good idea to rinse it down with fresh water after you holiday is over, you can clean it with soapy water and for more stubborn greasy stains I find one of the modern “searching” spray on lubes is really good, try GT85 or wurth ultra, wd40 will do as a second best. Alternatively you can plumb for one of the specialist inflatable boat cleaners such as is made by farecla.

At the end of each season when you are ready to store your inflatable it is a good idea to remove all moisture from the boat if you can, some people use talcum powder to effect this. Another useful material is silica crystals, this also stops milldew appearing on your bow bag, boat bag too. Look after your kit and it will look after you! Happy boating.

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