1984 Achilles dinghy life expectancy

[Bike4Him]

I'm new to the forum and this is my first post.

I have a 1984 Achilles SPD 4FL Dinghy made from Hypalon fabric.
It's been in a bag since I bought it from a drug runner in 1995.
He used it until his jail time.
I've brought it out, built a floor and seats, and have a 4hp Mercury ready to go.

The seams and tubes seem to be in great condition.
It holds air for many days, but is this thing safe to take on a lake?
I've been advised to wear a PFD and tow a kayak just in case.
I know the life expectancy is 10-20, but having been stored for nearly all it's life I hope it's got some life left in it.

Any thoughts?

[Gray]

Welcome to the forum. I’m sure someone will be along to answer you question shortly.

An interesting story as to how you came to have the boat. There is no wonder he got caught. Shouldn’t he have had one of these:

[Bike4Him]

Hi @Bike4Him
Sorry to have missed your first post...Welcome to the forum

Hypalon is much more hardy than pvc and it's life expectancy is greater, especially if cared for and stored correctly.
We see boats of all ages brought back to life, @PeterM has a love of restoring some of the older classic Avons which are generally if not always Hypalon tubed.
I honestly believe you'll have no issues with your sib, Many years of enjoyment ahead.
Yes.. A life jacket is in my mind the bare miniumum, we advise everyone to wear a flotation device of some variety, Always use a killcord/engine kill switch and have some form of device to contact authorities in the case of emergency.
You can of course go in depth and have multiples of various saftey devices and also undertake training for many aspects of boating and navigation.

You're not about to break any speed records with the 4hp but it should push you along at displacement speeds.

Enjoy the forum and don't be afraid to ask questions, we're a friendly bunch on here, We're just not always as observent as @Gray ... Thankfully he spotted your new post.

Martin

[PeterM]

My current project old boat. A 1991 Avon r310. The hypalon and glue are as strong as ever and no leaks and holding air indefinitely

Trick is not to rush cleaning.. lots if gentle cleaning and is getting back to form !

[Bike4Him]

Thank you all for the replies.
I know my 4hp (basically unused '72 Mercury) won't do much but it was free. In fact I have more money in the homemade floor and carpet than in the boat itself.
PeterM's Avon looks great and the rigid armored 8 motor thing that Gray posted would be fun to watch.

The recommended hp for my Achilles is 8. Is that partly due to the expected weight of the motor?
An 8hp in 1984 might weigh as much as a 12hp today.
I ask because I've seen some reasonable priced 9.9hp's for sale and didn't know if the recommended hp is too conservative.

[Martin]

With your boat being a 1984, you would expect the advised 8hp to be a calculated on a 2smoke, thus probably a lower weight than today’s 8hp 4 strokes.
If I was you, I’d try an find out the maximum outboard weight for the boat before making any decisions.
People do put bigger outboards on than the boat manufacturer advises, generally the boats handle them without issue, but do bare in mind it may cause you insurance problems.

Martin

[ChrisParish]

I have a 1990 Zodiac Cadet 310, and that is rated at 10hp but when I tried my 9.9 four stroke on it is was WAY too heavy. You could see by the way the boat sat in the water and the way it almost tore the transom off (the glue was on the way out anyway, to be fair, but we had to remove and refit the transom).

My old 9.9 four stroke was 40kg but my Johnson 9.9 two stroke is only 30 ish kg and can be lifted with one hand.

In short - I would do as Martin said and try and find the max weight for the outboard. An easier way to do this if it isn’t stamped on the transom plate, would be to find out how much a 1980’s 8hp weighs and go with that. I would have thought you would be fine with a modern 6hp four stroke - they are light and powerful. Any bigger than 6hp four stroke and they are going to be too heavy.

[PeterM]

I'd echo the engine advice from the guys there - I however will at some point throw my 9.9 Yamaha 4 stroke on the Avon & 'go for it' ( while I lean a long way forward ! ) - a technical marine term there .. what could go wrong !