Meanwhile, projects continue on the Debonair. The dinghy, an 8-foot Portabote, is getting a facelift. The seats were crumbling, its leads for the painter and lock were falling apart.
To start, we used new grommets for all holes through the sides, using the new grommet tool we ordered from Sailrite while we were in the States.
Then the seats, which were falling apart, all plastic parts cracked, needed complete rebuilding. We considered making new seats out of plywood, but wanted to preserve the ability to fold them up. They were being held together with Gorilla tape - which worked very well for almost a year. Then the seats were reinforced with fiberglass mat and epoxy, which took almost a week for the two seats. I found a great worksite here at Bahia Redonda, in an out of the way spot in the shade, where everyone walking by could look at my progress and offer comments. Finally, I painted them with marine paint. I'll add some seat covers the next time the sewing machine is out.