Hurricane 630 Rehab Project

[enwulff]

Here is the starting point. I bought a 1994 Zodiac Hurricane 630 from the GSA Auction site. The tubes had about 8 pinhole leaks, and one major hole in the port tube that had been repaired at least 4 times. The tubes where painted white as the border patrol had the boat painted.

[enwulff]

We used MEK to remove the paint as well as a grinder. My dad was in the pics above and was a huge help

[enwulff]

We then went over all the seams, damaged areas, and worn areas, with the Tuff Coat bottom coat finish to find pinhole leaks.

[enwulff]

Here is the finished project. Doing sea trials this weekend before putting into storage. Engines had 300 hours on them and it came with the trailer, gps chartplotter with radar, marine radio, pa system, all the emergency equipment, docklines, and a throwable. The also had 50 gallons in fuel which I had to have pumped out. Overall, besides the major project of fixing the tube, I had to fill the hydraulic stearing pump, fix the bilge pump hose, change all the fluids on the engine, and scrub the boat.

[Biggles]

Certainly looks smart now. Gonna get some on water pics of the beast ?

[FedRich]

Nice job, looks new. The USBP must've recently updated the power and nav equipment given the age of the boat.

[enwulff]

Yeah they basically redid the whole boat. The problem was that they didn't repair the tube right. The tube had a small hole in it on the port side tube near the rear cone. The tried putting 5 different patches over the whole, but they kept coming off becuase they didnt remove the old clue and they didnt use an inside patch. I think they only used the boat for one season then bought new boats. They sold a 24 foot one as well the same day but that boat's diesel engine didnt work.

[FedRich]

Yep, like the rest of DHS they probably bought a brand new 25' SafeBoat. According to the Zodiac MilPro website, the USBP took delivery of a new 733 for the San Diego sector marine unit sometime in 05 or 06.

We had a Zodiac RHIB powered by an I/B Volvo Penta diesel at my first Coast Guard station. Seemed like that boat was always down. Been stranded a time or two by Navy RHIBs powered by I/B diesels too.

My assigned 733 has a leak somewhere in that same chamber but on the starboard side. Haven't been able to locate it but fortunately have a Zodiac authorized repair shop about 20 minutes away.

[jyasaki]

Very nice job, Enwulff.

jky

[Stoo]

It's interesting that the blue strobes are still on the boat. Up here, they can only be used on law enforcement boats... and snowplows!