Zodiac FC470 Project

[Sheldon N]

Yeah, we pretty much had the place to ourselves since it was Sunday night. Camped up on the north end of the island on the open point... gorgeous views and a nice breeze to keep the bugs down. Definitely going to have to do it again.

So you decided to keep the Zodiac after all? I remember you had it posted for sale a while back...

[Attack Ducks]

Very nice boat!

FYI, the reason that spring is in there and the valve cores are tapered/conical is that these were intended to double-duty as PRVs (pressure relief valves). While the FC series boats do feature additional PRVs on their rear 2 chambers, the other boats that utilize the I/C valves do not. They are supposed to pop off the seat around 8-9 psi IIRC (vs 3.5-3.6 psi for the rear PRVs). The trick I use putting them back together is lightly tighten the nut until the spring is fully compressed then back off 2 turns. Also the nut is a nylon locknut so it should have some turning resistance when you install it. If it turns too easily I would recommend replacing it with a fresh one...the last thing you want is one of these backing out over time and having the valve core pop out at in inopportune time!

Another trick to those valves if you guys haven't discovered if you turn the valve to approx 4-5 o'clock or 7-8 o'clock you can direct air to a SINGLE adjacent chamber instead of linking them both together. The exact position varies a little bit from boat to boat due to the inner valves sometimes being clocked differently (this is also why "Navigate" isn't always exactly at 6 o'clock). Also it's counter intuitive, when at 4-5 o'clock (arrow pointing leftish) you are connected to the chamber to the right and vice-versa. This feature is particularly useful because you can use this trick to inflate a boat that is missing one or more valve inserts (the screw in part)...just inflate it one chamber at a time, finishing in the NAVIGATE position.

Happy boating!

[Sheldon N]

Nice, thanks for the info!

Yes, I did notice that you can let air out quickly just by pulling the valve body against the spring. I think I did about the same with the retaining nuts on my valves, tightened them all the way then backed off a tiny bit (don't remember how much).

It would be cool if the valves had exact markings showing which orientation inflated which chamber, but it's in the user manual if I remember right.

We've been loving our boat, out on the river with the family 2 or 3 days per week all summer long. Here's a snapshot from a couple nights ago...

[Sheldon N]

Boat is still going strong! Weather is starting to warm up around here so definitely time to be back on the water.

[SIBRider]

Wow, awesome. Never tried mine off shore yet, only in Tillamook Bay. Did you launch into surf? What place is it? Canon beach or nort of Pacific City

[Sheldon N]

We went up the Nestucca river out to the mouth around Pacific City. Haven't tried a direct surf launch yet... I'd need a bigger towing vehicle than my Subaru to make sure I didn't get stuck on the beach.

[office888]

Mine is so cluttered compared to yours...

[SIBRider]

Originally Posted by Sheldon N

We went up the Nestucca river out to the mouth around Pacific City. Haven't tried a direct surf launch yet... I'd need a bigger towing vehicle than my Subaru to make sure I didn't get stuck on the beach.

I'love that place Cape Kiwanda. Usually no problem driving up almost all the way to the dune in my minivan, except on very high tide.
How did you go about recovery? Just muscle up onto trailer?

[Sheldon N]

Yep, we just dragged it up onto the trailer when we were done. Had several people with me so it was no problem.

I do want to try a surf launch at Kiwanda, perhaps when the waves are a little calmer.

[Sheldon N]

Originally Posted by office888

Mine is so cluttered compared to yours...

That light bar is cool. I'd be tempted to put red and blue flashing lights on it to get other boaters to pull out of my way.

[office888]

Originally Posted by Sheldon N

That light bar is cool. I'd be tempted to put red and blue flashing lights on it to get other boaters to pull out of my way.

The Sheriff's Department has a Hurricane H920 Cabin.

They matched my speed on the Ashley River as the 3 guys in the cabin all stared me down... I stared back and we did this for about 90 seconds. I gave them an "uh...hey" kinda wave, then they throttled up and left me in their wake.

I think they confused me for one of them. I was wearing a black drysuit at the time with a Mustang Survival industrial 4-pocket lifejacket over it.

The arch does the job! It was mainly to keep radiated power from the VHF antenna away from my head.

[Sheldon N]

That's awesome.

[Squid Boat]

Originally Posted by Sheldon N

Boat is still going strong! Weather is starting to warm up around here so definitely time to be back on the water.

Really nice boat and image mate

Cheers

[Sheldon N]

Thanks man!

[cgoing]

Richard- are you trying to impersonate a sheriff again? 🚔

We were testing a hurricane in Connecticut and all of the boats kept stopping trying to figure out if we were cops or not. Then the real cops showed up and asked if they could "inspect" our boat. I think they really just wanted to play with a much cooler toy then they had!

[GrantG]

Sheldon, Another good day on the water...

[Sheldon N]

It was a blast, I want to see the video.

[Sheldon N]

So my boat is famous now.... fun times getting to be a part of a photo and video shoot earlier this summer along with GrantG.

You can see some of the final photos here... It's part of a motorcycle apparel company's new brand rollout.

Icon 1000 | Ride Icon

And yes, we really did strap a motorcycle down inside the boat and take it out on the water.

[SIBRider]

That's too cool!

[GrantG]

The video will be released soon!