Repair? Or new boat

[Koopster]

Hey everyone I have a bombard AX6000 limited, and if I were to guess probably about 19 years old now maybe even older. Current problems i have are leaking right tube (Holds air for about 4 hours before going flat), leaky valves, tubes are scuffed pretty good, drain plug doesn't seal right, benches have seen better days (wood), and most concerning little streams of water coming through both tubes filling the back of the boat up in about 4 hours. Are the tubes saying goodbye to the hull? Should I be concerned? Can I just put it back in the water and be fine for this season? Let me know,

Thanks.

[tinker]

Why not find the leaks and repair,? it's easy to say spend 5k on new tubes or 20k an a new boat but unless yours a wash with money then the better option, for me, would be fix the issues myself.

Just write a list of the issues and work your way through them one by one. I find it a worthwhile endeavour, fixing things, very rewarding (unless your too busy with other stuff.)

[spartacus]

Tinker has hit the nail on the head - draw up a list and work your way through it. I suppose if you are not DIY handy, then paying a professional to make some of these repairs is going to be expensive if you compare that to making payments to replace the boat altogether.

The trouble is - boats aren't cheap, so if there's any life left in the old Bombard you'd be advised to repair. To get the collective expertise of the RIBnet fraternity - then post detailed pictures.

Leaking valves and refurbishing or replacing wooden benches will be straight-forward with the right knowledge. Streaming water coming in via back tubes is a little more concerning, and probably needs to be addressed first along with the drain plug. You certainly don't want to be heading out into the ocean or inland lake anytime soon until that's fixed.

Gluing tube material - I assume we're talking PVC (Strongan Duotex) here? Bombard is a division of Zodiac and PVC was used extensively across a number of leisure type RIBS and SIBS, then it's a 2-part glue. Preparation is everything plus the right ambient temperature. We're coming into decent summer days - so you have that on your side.

First thing to do is haul it out and strip out unnecessary kit and get it to a working area where you can see underneath the rear sponsons and transom too.

[Peter_C]

We can't see the tubes and material. You are going to have to determine their condition. If the tubes are not failing from the sun, and there are not any major defects it is worth repairing. Skills required are at a medium level, and it requires some tools, but nothing expensive. IE: Heat gun, roller, or my preference a rounded piece of metal with a handle for pressing the material together.

Depending on valve brand you can often clean them, or replace just the cores/seals. If they are not available that changes everything.

[User name]

If it's otherwise scrap then there's no harm in having a go at repairing it tbh.