Building a Dyer Dhow Ultralight Dinghy
The key to any multi-year boat restoration is keeping busy at a consistent rate. Often times I'd like to do one boat project to completion and then move on to another one. But if I did that it would take 100 years to remodel a 27 foot boat. So I basically try to keep busy during the winter months with indoor projects.
To that end, the $75 Dyer Dhow is the next winter project as the weather gets colder and it threatens to rain or snow every other weekend. This will be a great chance to experiment with paint, non-skid, and composite building materials. Not to mention its a great way to boost my confidence thatI can actually start a project and complete it, if the circumstances permit.
My goal is to rebuild the dinghy sans wood, needing no maintenance, and shed as much weight as possible in the search for the Lightest 9' Fiberglass Dinghy EVER. How light can I go? A stock Dyer Dhow weighs in at more than 100lbs. This dinghy as is weighed it at approximately 66lbs. That's minus the seats, minus the rubrail, minus the cool bronze seat hardware, oar locks, etc. I spent some time eyeballing the transom. If I could get rid of most of the wood I could replace with 1/2" coosa board and save another 40%.
To that end, the $75 Dyer Dhow is the next winter project as the weather gets colder and it threatens to rain or snow every other weekend. This will be a great chance to experiment with paint, non-skid, and composite building materials. Not to mention its a great way to boost my confidence thatI can actually start a project and complete it, if the circumstances permit.
My goal is to rebuild the dinghy sans wood, needing no maintenance, and shed as much weight as possible in the search for the Lightest 9' Fiberglass Dinghy EVER. How light can I go? A stock Dyer Dhow weighs in at more than 100lbs. This dinghy as is weighed it at approximately 66lbs. That's minus the seats, minus the rubrail, minus the cool bronze seat hardware, oar locks, etc. I spent some time eyeballing the transom. If I could get rid of most of the wood I could replace with 1/2" coosa board and save another 40%.
So I hacked out the flotation and the transom seat. I would have gotten rid of the teak half transom but it appeared glassed to the fiberglass skin. Oh well. I also chopped out the centerboard trunk which was basically worthless. Total weigh savings: another 12.5 lbs in centerboard trunk and transom seat. I'm down to about 54 pounds bare hull. My shop mate calls it "a 55lb sheet of paper" as we try to move it about and it flexes and springs around. Hard to hold onto, large, but light enough it fights you every step of the way. I plan to add two water tight storage compartments: one at the transom another at the bow with a bridge deck.
Watertight compartments tabbed in. I ran out of scraps of coosa board, and since I was looking for weight savings, opted for 1/4" Luan with a layer of fiberglass for the vertical bulkheads. Total weight added back on: 8 lbs. this puts the weight at 62lbs right now. Each compartment will have an 8" deck plate. On the bottom I added 3 rubbing strikes to protect the keel, also made from 3/4" coosa scraps epoxied to the hull. The addition of the seat tops and sealing of compartments with epoxy has created a lot of stiffness in what was formerly a very flexible boat. Rubrail installed using epoxy and counter sunk stainless screws. The rubrail still needs to be finished and sanded but it came out very nice. It's a nice lip to hold onto and carry the boat and I can't believe how the hull stiffened up. Minus the thwart seat and bronze hardware, the dinghy weighs in at 71lbs. I'm guess the final weight will be approximate 78lbs.
Seat tops put in. The addition of the seat tops and sealing of compartments with epoxy has created a lot of stiffness in what was formerly a very flexible boat. Very pleased with how it came together. Now onto the rub rail and some primer. Rubrail installed using epoxy and counter sunk stainless screws. The rubrail still needs to be finished and sanded but it came out very nice. It's a nice lip to hold onto and carry the boat and I can't believe how the hull stiffened up. Minus the thwart seat and bronze hardware, the dinghy weighs in at 71lbs. I'm guess the final weight will be approximate 78lbs. Working the rubrail. Finishing touches to sand the rub rail, put in a nice curve, and patch any errors with epoxy. PVC bonds well with epoxy provided the surface is sanded and clean. It can then be sculpted to get the look you want.
Slow but steady progress on the Dyer ultralight dinghy. The interior has been painted with regular Rustoleum enamel. I used the marine topside version on the big boat and decided to see how the regular Rustoleum will hold up in the dinghy. The biggest difference in the two paints appears to be thickness out of the can. The marine topside appears thinner out of the can but both lay down nearly identical.
The trick with Rustoleum is have a dry low humidity work area. Low humidity is much more important than temp I've found. If ithe air is dry the paint is tack free in about 5-6 hours and sandable in 24. It looks great. I will be doing the hull red in similar paint. The primer is same as on the A27, Zinser cover stain. The PVC rub rail took paint really well and looks very factory up close. Bronze fittings polished and clear coated. Non skid is SoftSand applied to gray Rustoleum. Excellent results. Hull paint is Rustoleum enamel Regal Red. Three thin coats to get solid coverage. Some slight orange peel which I will be addressing in the final coat.
The trick with Rustoleum is have a dry low humidity work area. Low humidity is much more important than temp I've found. If ithe air is dry the paint is tack free in about 5-6 hours and sandable in 24. It looks great. I will be doing the hull red in similar paint. The primer is same as on the A27, Zinser cover stain. The PVC rub rail took paint really well and looks very factory up close. Bronze fittings polished and clear coated. Non skid is SoftSand applied to gray Rustoleum. Excellent results. Hull paint is Rustoleum enamel Regal Red. Three thin coats to get solid coverage. Some slight orange peel which I will be addressing in the final coat.
Finished dinghy. This was a good test run for the paint job on the A27. I will be using the same color scheme and Rustoleum paint. After a lot of experimenting and research with the paint I determined it's not really worth the effort of trying to completely remove the orange peel as it's very hard to see at the 5' rule. Not sure of the final dinghy weight as there's still snow on the ground but I'm hoping it's close to 80lbs. I think the dinghy can be towed & carried on the swim platform if need be. And it can be craned up on the hardtop using my mast/boom.
But what I'm really experimenting with is the idea of "rolling" it up onto the hardtop. When I construct my hard top next winter I'm going to install rollers at the end of the aft hardtop and swim platform. The plan is to lift the bow onto the swim platform then onto the hardtop edge, then roll it into place on the hardtop onto a preset "cradle" where the dinghy can be secured.
But what I'm really experimenting with is the idea of "rolling" it up onto the hardtop. When I construct my hard top next winter I'm going to install rollers at the end of the aft hardtop and swim platform. The plan is to lift the bow onto the swim platform then onto the hardtop edge, then roll it into place on the hardtop onto a preset "cradle" where the dinghy can be secured.