: Yes. Except he generally uses glue, and glues the deck to the hull.
: With a wood-framed boat you can use glue if you want, but it is
: faster to secure the hull and then the deck to the gunwale
: strips with staples. Stpales are not an option with an aluminum
: frame on a folder. With either style you could sew the skin on.
: Use about 4 stitches to the inch with the clear vinyl if you sew
: it by hand. That is about the same spacing as with a heavy
: cloth.

: when the skin is stapled on, and the overlap of deck and hull
: material, with the row of staples, is covered with a neat rub
: strip, all the fastenings are hidden. the cool factor is
: enhanced. The frame can be easily seen, and so can the paddler.
: These boats are chick magnets.

: As for fragile. Not really a big problem. Sevylor inflatable boats
: are plenty durable, and their least-expensive boats are made
: from thin, unreinforced vinyl of about this thickness. Those
: last several years. No reason these shouldn't last about half as
: long as cotton duck and paint. In the event of punctures the
: vinyl is very quick to patch with clear tape, such as one owuld
: repair a vinyl swimming pool liner. Some of those tape patches
: could be considered permanent repairs. If no using tape, then a
: scrap of the clear vinyl could be applied with clear vinyl
: cement for a permanent repair. the drying/hardening time for
: such an adhesive is about an hour. Pinholes can be repair with
: just a drop of the cement alone.

: I'm not sure what the state licensing boards will think about
: registering these boats, though. You might rn into some problems
: if your state requires an inspection before issuing tags. If
: they do, mention to the inspector that the inflatables, which
: most states WILL register are made of the same material. If you
: just have to mail in a form, as we do in Illinois, then just
: check the box for wood or plastic construction, or do both.

: PGJ

Hi Paul,

Have you tried sewing the clear vinyl? I'd think the thread would pull right thru the material, it's not at all tear resistant. It can be sewn, usually by machine, to other fabric, like making windows in a convertable top but then the fabric it's sewn to will have some tear resistance to lend to the vinyl. Sewing it to itself I'd think would not be as easy.

Bill H.

Bill H.