Rendova Tender - Water Draining From Hull-gctid818697

[Guest]

My 4788 came with a 12' Rendova - great dinghy. It is constructed of two fiberglass hulls with an air gap between them so that even if the inflatable tubes deflate the boat will still float. The fishfinder that the prior owner installed on the boat died recently, so I went to replace it last night. When I removed the old transducer from the transom, water started leaking out from the screw hole. The PO had not sealed the hole after he drilled it and put the screw into it to mount the transducer. Long story short, when I cleared some small debris from the hole water started gushing out. I drilled a small lower hole and lots of water gushed out.

I lifted the dinghy up to get the front and side up to drain even more water. I would guess something like 12-15 gallons of water drained out. I filled two five-gallon Homer buckets and didn't start collecting the water until I realized this was not a five-minute draining.

Tonight I am going to check the installation of the downrigger mount on the Rendova because I'm guessing the same person put that in without sealing the screw holes as well. Any other thoughts as to where the water came from? It was salty water, so I'm thinking it came from the transducer mounting holes which are below the water line, but I'll gladly check any other spots..

12 gallons of water is 100 pounds. Yikes!

[NZ_4588]

"robster_in_edmonds" post=818697 wrote:
My 4788 came with a 12' Rendova - great dinghy. It is constructed of two fiberglass hulls with an air gap between them so that even if the inflatable tubes deflate the boat will still float. The fishfinder that the prior owner installed on the boat died recently, so I went to replace it last night. When I removed the old transducer from the transom, water started leaking out from the screw hole. The PO had not sealed the hole after he drilled it and put the screw into it to mount the transducer. Long story short, when I cleared some small debris from the hole water started gushing out. I drilled a small lower hole and lots of water gushed out.

I lifted the dinghy up to get the front and side up to drain even more water. I would guess something like 12-15 gallons of water drained out. I filled two five-gallon Homer buckets and didn't start collecting the water until I realized this was not a five-minute draining.

Tonight I am going to check the installation of the downrigger mount on the Rendova because I'm guessing the same person put that in without sealing the screw holes as well. Any other thoughts as to where the water came from? It was salty water, so I'm thinking it came from the transducer mounting holes which are below the water line, but I'll gladly check any other spots..

12 gallons of water is 100 pounds. Yikes!

Wow Rob that is a considerable amount of water.

I'm wondering if the transducer holes have gone entirely through to the space between the floor and hull? Some of that water may be coming directly from the under floor cavity rather than the core.

Guess the only other skin fitting to check is the drain plug housing. Same again they are often poorly sealed on the interior of the transom and can saturate the core.

Ian B)

[kwb]

My AB has a similar arrangement - but it has a second drain plug. I thought that was good enough.

Last year a crack opened up in the hull due to a poor layup in the corner of a lifting strake and "sunk" it what I found during my hasty fix while in Nanaimo is that it has a keel stringer that only really lets one side sort of drain.

Over the winter I let it hang vertically and drilled a few holes to let all the water out. It dripped for a long time (think months) I then foamed the cavity between the hulls. Hull is stiffer than it ever was. Now it sits in my shop atop the pallet racking because we chose to get a tow behind CC for a dinghy instead of the RIB.

For the cost of these things I am amazed at the piss poor build quality. I won't own another fiberglass RIB, and would only maybe entertain the idea of buying an aluminum one if I buy another inflatable.