Punctured my F-RIB :(

[Phil]

Coming in today at the end of two great days fishing beach launching off the south coast, I managed to puncture the rear starboard tube on my 360 F-RIB .

I was trying to navigate through the muddy rocks at low tide in the area which are often covered in sharp barnacles. I’d put the OB up on tilt and the old man was on the oars keeping the bow to the waves.

I jumped out in to shallow water to grab the front of the boat and beach it, but slipped on muddy rocks that couldn’t be seen due to the sandy water, falling over in to the sea and cutting my leg on barnicles. At pretty much the same time, I heard a hissing sound as the another hidden barnacle-ridden rock sliced a 2” hole in the rear tube.

Pretty gutted. When looking at the beach I launched and landed from with the tide out further still, it became apparent that there would have been no way I could get in past the rocks at low tide. A bit surprising as it’s where the local angling club beach launch a fleet of small fishing boats from, although this seems to all be done at high water.

I seem to remember the F-RIB coming with a puncture repair kit which I’ll try and locate. My worry is whether the hole is too big for that sort of repair or too close to where it joins the hull, especially as it’s below the water line.

I insure the boat through Craft Insure, so will give those guys a ring in the morning to see what the deal is with them covering a professional repair job. Perhaps F-RIB HQ could sort this?

Would be interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar puncture and got it fixed. Especially if you used insurance to cover the job.

Cheers,

Phil

[Mitch]

Sorry to hear of your mishap Phil, I should think it’s easy to do if you don’t know the launch area that well, I was told it’s always best to see the launch area at low water just to see what’s under you. I’ve done similar at Poole but there it’s only sand so no damage apart from some paint off the prop.
Keep us informed on how you get on with craft insure as this could happen to any of us.

[Steve]

That’s rubbish Phil, so sorry to hear that. Hope you get on ok with the insurance, keep us posted like Mitch says.

There’s some repair instructions, if it comes to that, here: http://polymarine.com/pdfs/Polymarine-P ... -Guide.pdf

Good luck!

Steve

[Phil]

Sorry to hear of your mishap Phil, I should think it’s easy to do if you don’t know the launch area that well, I was told it’s always best to see the launch area at low water just to see what’s under you.

Thanks for the condolences Mitch.

Agree on checking out the launch area at low tide. I don’t get to the beach in question that often and, although I may be imagining it, the muddy rocks in the area seem to be in different places from trip to trip. I think rough weather causes some to be covered by sand whilst others to be exposed.

I also hadn’t really acknowledged how many sharp barnacles where on some of them. The rocks themselves feel like they’re made out of soft clay, so I thought I’d be fine with the outboard lifted up.

I think I’ll be going back to slip launches for a while when I get the tube fixed.

[Phil]

There’s some repair instructions, if it comes to that, here: http://polymarine.com/pdfs/Polymarine-P ... -Guide.pdf

Many thanks Steve. Useful to have those instructions and they may well come in handy if I need to do the job myself.

It looks like the size of hole should be fine to repair according to what the instructions say. Just not sure on it’s location.

I’ll report back when I’ve spoken to Craft Insure.

[warder54]

I hate hidden rocks! (Prop now replaced and ready to go) Looks like an easy repair job though Phil. Not sure any insurance company would cover for a puncture though.

[Phil]

That’s bad news buddy, very unfortunate

if you were to go through the insurance, you’ll no doubt find that the first £50 if any claim is your liability. I expect you’ll buy a new repair kit for less than that.
Probably a self repair on the cards I’d say.

Martin

[Phil]

if you were to go through the insurance, you’ll no doubt find that the first £50 if any claim is your liability. I expect you’ll buy a new repair kit for less than that.
Probably a self repair on the cards I’d say.

I spoke to Craft Insure and the excess on my policy with them is £100. They’ve said to get quotes from a RIB repair shop and go from there. Will have a think about the self repair route too.

Steve Bruce said F-RIB HQ don’t do repairs, but recommended RIB Shop in Hamble and RIB Repair in The New Forest as companies he uses. He confirmed the F-RIB material is 1100 GSM Mirasol PVC.

I also found a company called Plan Craft a little closer to home which could be another option if I don’t end up doing it myself.

[neil h]

Phil,
I don't know what the instructions say, but you probably want at least 2" all round the slash.
It looks far enough away from the hull for that to me, but the pics could be misleading.
If you decide to do it yourself, get everything ready, take your time with all the prep, mask it off well and have the adhesive cleaner at the ready, but keep it away as much as you can once the repair is done, the vapour can weaken the glue. Also keep it away from the other seams and hull joints etc, as you don't want those weakened.

It should be a perfectly easy DIY job.

[Cliff]

Condolences Phil, hope you get it sorted soon,