Zodiac Maintenance

For some time the flooring of the Zodiac dinghy has needed attention. It is composed of slats rather than solid sheets of material so that the dinghy can be folded up and stored. Bits of this slatting have been breaking off to the point that too much stress is being put on the bottom of the dinghy.

I wound up using "exterior" grade 3-ply. I had been warned that the ply available in La Paz is pretty horrible, unless one gets marine grade ply which is extremely expensive. At the timber yard the only solution that the man could offer was 3-ply. I was about to turn him down when he mentioned that it was made of Meranti. I know Meranti. It is a very good wood out of the tropical rain forests of Asia. "De Indonesia?" I asked. "Filipinas" was his reply.

The bad news is that I had to purchase an entire sheet of ply for the six slats. But the price was only 450 pesos and they would include all of the cutting. So I had six slats cut and four panels suitable for use as flooring on the dinghy to place over the slats.

Back at the boat I spent a couple of hours using my tiny saw, a rasp, and some sand paper to chamfer the corners and sides of the slats.

The photos tell the story. The first photo shows a blue piece of broken slat next to a new ply one. Next is the repaired roll-up flooring in place. Finally there are the two panels over the lot.

Let's hope that it lasts at least through my stay in Mexico.