1 posts
Hi all,
Hoping someone can help with an issue I’m having with the air-deck on my Island Inflatable 3.6m dinghy.
I bought it used (basically as-new) and it’s now three years old. The air-deck is leaking around the “donut” (the circular area where the glue has let go). Island Inflatables sell a replacement floor for $800. The guy I spoke to on the phone said it’s the most expensive part of the boat and explained how they usually deal with this. I asked if they sell a proper repair kit or even just a small piece of the right material so I could fix it myself — they only sell the glue. That was a bit disappointing. You’d think the manufacturer or even reseller would have access to the material needed to repair their own boats.
This seems to be a pattern with the glued bits on these Island Inflatables. My previous one had similar glue failures after a few years. Island gave me a local repairer to contact for help.
We use the dinghy as a tender and need it to actually work as one. On the last Island I had, I used SC-4000 (Rema Tip Top) glue on the failed glue points and it held. Gluing this air-deck is proving more difficult though. I’ve been told to reinforce the area with a larger patch than the original to give the repair a better chance.
Cleaning and re-gluing hasn’t worked so far.
Has anyone successfully repaired an Island air-deck (or similar drop-stitch floor) with this kind of glue failure? Any tips on the right material, prep, or technique would be appreciated before I have another go.
A quick search for help came back with this forum.
Cheers,
Shane
