The Avon Typhoon Inflatable Boat – An Ebay Special

This is my Avon Typhoon inflatable boat 3.0m.  I bought this inflatable boat on eBay as a package with an outboard motor.  I was after the motor really so when I got both at a fairly cheap price I was over the moon.  I recall I paid less than £400 for the package.  I was interested in the outboard, the Johnson 6hp 2 stroke, as it had been kept as a backup engine so had hardly been used.  The Typhoon inflatable boat was just a bonus that I could use a few times then maybe sell or give away.

Avon Typhoon Inflatable Boat high view

When I first inflated the Typhoon inflatable boat I noticed a small hole in one of the tubes which I was not happy about but to be fair the eBay listing said ‘no repairs’ so technically that was correct.  I could have pursued this via eBay but decided that for the sake of a £20 repair kit it was not worth the effort.  Anyway, I set about repairing the hole.  I bought some PVC glue and some inflatable boat PVC material to make a patch.  I used a bottle top as a template to cut out the circle patch then glued it to the boat following the instructions.  With the repair in place and after 24 hours to set it was time to inflate it again.

The patch had done its job but now I noticed that the inflatable keel was not keeping pressure.  On closer inspection, I could see that there were many small holes along the length of the keel where the keel had been folded as the boat had been rolled up.  I tried some Sealflex which you pour inside the tube, it is then supposed to create a silicon layer within the tube and plug any holes.  This didn’t work, it just leaked out and didn’t seal many of the holes.  I then tried some Plastidip rubber paint around the outside of the keel to try to seal it.  This seems to have worked and stays it inflated for an hour or so but the tube still goes down, now I suspect a faulty valve on the keel.  So the boat is now usable, just.  If I was intending to keep the boat I’d replace the keel completely then repaint the wooden floor as the paint has worn away in places. In fact, the cost of the repairs so far would have covered the cost of a replacement inflatable keel.

Avon Typhoon Inflatable Boat front view

So here we are.  Those are some of the problems you can get when you buy an older PVC inflatable boat.  I think buying new is definitely a better option and is well worth the extra cost in the long run.  I have spent maybe around £100 to get this boat into it’s current, not perfect but usable condition.  I will certainly take this boat out in the summer for a test run but won’t be keeping it as I already have a Seapro 340 air deck for solo use and a Honda Honwave T38 for longer expeditions.   

A few more pics of the boat ready for action.

I will post a video of the Avon Typhoon inflatable boat on its maiden voyage in early 2018.

The Johnson outboard in the pictures is talked about in the following post:

https://stufishing.com/johnson-6hp-2-st…e-outboard-motor/

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