PVC Material & Sources?

Hey guys,

Anyone know of a good place to order PVC material from?

I'm looking to add a deep V section to the bottom of an inflatable boat that I purchased which has a flat bottom and need some high quality material to bond to the bottom. Also adding this material will serve a 2nd purpose, it'll help add more protection to the bottom in the even I hit anything sharp so it'll have a better chance of surviving.

I'm here on Oahu in Hawaii and not sure if there are any local sources. Usually we have to buy a lot of stuff elsewhere and have to have it shipped

 

I'm not sure what sort of PVC material you are alluding to, or how it is going to be used to form a vee-bottom, but it sounds like a fraught exercise to me.

 

Pretty much the same stuff that the PVC boats are made out of. I already have a design in mind and just need the material. Also it's going to double as another protective barrier to the bottom of the inflatable boat and I can't imagine having more protection is a bad thing.

 

Is (calendared) PVC the material your boat is made from ? Some are Hypalon. If you introduce an effective deep-vee shape into a very light boat, you will drastically alter the dynamics of it, and depending on whether you have a sealed cavity in mind, the characteristics at rest.

 

It's definitely not Hypalon so I'm assuming it's the calendared PVC. The boat is flat bottom and is made to be able to take a motor but in ocean waters, I'm sure it's not very efficient.

Also from what I've learned so far, having a deep vee hull will help in rough waters. Of course I won't be going into anything insane, very small waves to very calm days most likely.

And yes, the cavity that I'll be designing will be sealed so if anything I'm assuming that would add more buoyancy to the vessel.

 

Well, if you go for a steepish vee, it might not pound so much, but be slower to plane, flop to one side if unevenly loaded etc. And you will have to lower the transom ledge, plus have a whole bunch of structural issues, as the tubes won't be carrying the same load underway. It's a big job, done properly, even if practically achievable.

 

Well I'll be trying to copy something like this. I won't be making it super deep like a RIB. Like you said, it'll be a "semi-steepish vee" design.



Basically I'm going to make a pocket at the bottom of the boat with some of the PVC material and it'll be sealed to the bottom. There will be a pocket that I'll be inserting a custom molded PVC pipe in the shape of a "vee" from either 1" or up to 2" tubing. This way I can remove the PVC pipe after a day on the water and deflate the boat.

I know this will be a little bit of a task to do properly but this should, I'm assuming, be achievable with very little money. Even with the cost of the boat factored in, it'll be a TON less money than buying a boat with a vee already part of the design. By I ton, I'm mean at least $500 or a lot more.


This is the boat that I'll be modifying:



And here is the bottom of that boat:

 

That does not look like a boat that could be adapted to what you envisage, imo. It looks like something to paddle around in at sedate speeds.

 

I understand how you personally may feel about this boat. But rest assured, even though it may not be the best option or definitely the safest, this boat has been heavily modified by a bunch of people around the world to handle both lake and even in the ocean.

If you type a simple search for Intex Excursion 5 mods, there are TONS of links and videos for you to check out.

This boat has been out for a pretty long time, I'm assuming at least a few to 5+ years now so it has huge support.

Ok, with that out of the way, why wouldn't a vee design be beneficial to the bottom of this? I mean it wouldn't and couldn't be any worse right? Sadly these company don't think to just incorporate a simple vee design into their product since others do and they even sell replacement inflatable keels in the event that theirs gets damaged.

I'm thinking all you have to do is to measure properly and line the vee design right down the middle. In actuality that should be fairly simple to do considering that there are already the lines at the bottom so I'd follow that and it should be good to go. Just gotta make sure I cut the sheet/s of PVC to line up properly.

Oh, also forgot to mention. I might be incorporating a sheet of plywood at the bottom and then attaching the PVC tube in a V shape to help stability and longevity of the boat since it's just PVC at the bottom. That way there's an unlikely chance of getting any type of puncture damage. As originally though, I'll make a pocket with the PVC material that will fit the plywood/PVC "V" setup.

 

What will propel it ? What speed do you expect ?

 

I'm thinking about getting a 6HP outboard. I don't expect lighting speeds nor am I seeking that. This is a fishing boat and will be taking 1-2 friends out on the weekends every once in a while. Maybe a few to a handful of times in a month.

We will most likely be going to fishing spots, not very far from shore, basically where the reef drops off so we can catch the stuff you can't get from shore. I'm assuming that's a few hundred yards or so. I'm not planning to go out any further than maybe even half a mile when on the ocean. We have only 1 lake here and that one is not that huge either. And of course light troll fishing. Don't need high speeds usually for that either.

 

Well, I'd say leave it as-is. A vee bottom will only bugger it up.

 

You think the 6HP motor won't do much to get this thing on a plane? I just hear that it's what you want a boat to do with a motor as it's more efficient, goes faster, etc, etc, etc.

Also what about head winds on windy days and/or choppy waters?

 

6 knots is not a planing speed, and seriously this vessel is not designed to be anything in the neighbourhood of a planing boat.

 

Ok, I guess I'll just abandon the idea if it positively won't do any good then. Thanks for the info.

But if anything I'd like to still attach more material to the bottom of the boat since I've already bought this boat and using it for above said intended purposes. Any idea where to get good priced PVC material? Also what glue would work best to make a good seal?