Porta-Bote Repairs

[CaptainMorgan3]

I wanted to start a forum on just repairs of porta-botes. I don't really care about crazy mods, although some are very cool, I only care about extending the longevity of my current boat (or bote if you want it to sound fancy). See Joe Dirt/Dirte. I have long been a porta-bote user, about 18 years. Not always a supporter though. However they are great for what they are...a fold able, easily transported boat that is very sturdy and reliable. In my opinion, not reliable enough to take it into the ocean 22 miles out but, maybe someday...

I will start by saying that I am a construction worker (of sorts) and have access to databases of chemicals that readily accessible from your local home improvement store. Also I have access to people?s minds that are far smarter than I. These people have created solutions I could not have conjured up even on the best of drugs. I have done many things with the boat including portaging multiple miles with it, using as dingy for sailboat, temporary bathing, even used as shelter on one terribly bad night. Warning: the fixes detailed in this forum are not guaranteed to work and should be used at your own personal and porta-bote risk.

Problem:
I am currently having problems with the black padding shredding away due to it being old. It leaves black dots all over the place and seems to be getting worse every trip. Has anyone been able find or tried a solution to this? I was thinking maybe some shoe goo maybe even a thin layer of silicone. Maybe even replacing it?

I will put one my fixes below in hopes that we can kick this forum off well, maybe even stoke some solutions to my current problem. I have others fixes just not that much time right now. So please feel free to tell us about them. Please include the story if it isn?t too embarrassing.

Problem:
On one trip I was heading to Chevelon Canyon Lake in Eastern Arizona. The lake is very secluded and is one of only a few places in Arizona that has stay over trout. I got a late start up the mountain from my house in Phoenix and didn?t have time to check everything. Long story short, the boat came off just before I got to Payson. It went over the guardrail and off a very rocky cliff. Luckily it made a noise, or else I don?t know how I would have known where it came off the truck. It was dark and I probably would have not searched for it if i didn't know exactly where it came off. I went back the next day and found the boat. I had to go a long ways out of the way to even get down to it. I dragged it across many rocks, the whole time asking myself whether it was worth it or not. While getting it out the boat managed to get a huge rip/gash through the hull of the boat. The rip was about 1.5-2 foot long on the starboard side of the hull. The rip probably occurred from me dragging it across sharp rocks and losing traction and falling on the boat instead of the rocks.

Solution:
I was able to find a product that is made by 3M, recommended to me by a Scientist co-worker. It is called Scotch-Weld DP 8010. I found it at Grainger or maybe Border. Both of these places are construction/Industrial supply houses. It was very expensive. It was 45 dollars for a tube and 18 for the special 10:1 mix ratio plunger that is required to expel the epoxy. It took two tubes and one plunger to do the job to my liking. I did not buy the gun and the special mixing nozzle because this would have been another 130 dollars. I just forced the plunger down which was very difficult and mixed the epoxy on a piece of wood. It is an Acrylic Structural Plastic Adhesive/epoxy. Translation: this stuff can be pretty nasty. The first thing stated on the bottle is ?for industrial or professional use only?. Be sure to use proper precautions and read the side of the bottle before use. Also read bold warning words above. The stuff had about a 5 minute working time before it started to set up. I treated the crack inside and out and have had no problems what so ever with the repair. 100% water tight!!!

Happy Boteing!!!

 

[barato2]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

good idea for a thread! and i like the idea of keeping it separate from the modification threads. altho any action on this sub-forum is like a zombie uprising, given its general graveyard-like nature......

1. i have one of the old Gen 2 boats with the wood seats. over time and abuse (see references above to crazy mods and behavior :madgrin, the flexible "hinge" material that holds the supports onto the bases of seats began to tear. i got some nylon hinges from Duckworks, a primarily-wood-boat-constructor site. drilled out the rivets for the original hinges, screwed the new hinges on, good as new through more abuse altho i would recommend gooping the screws with something to keep em from backing out.

2. i was test fitting some crazy mods and had boat set up in driveway. didn't notice that center seat support was not in place under the middle seat, and sat down on it. CRAAACK! not all the way through but it really sucked since IMHO the center seat is the most important structural component of the 3 seats. and i was leaving for week of fishing in Mexico in 3 days. i found some 3/8" exterior ply and clamped it on TOP of the foam padding on the seat, then bolted it all the way through the foam and seat with some SS 10-24x2" machine screws and nylock nuts. it worked beautifully. lets the seat flex as it needs to in order to hold boat open, but no issues even through many days of seas so rough that real boats stayed home. bonus is that it greatly facilitated mounting one of the stadium-type seats people put in tin boats so my back is lots happier after 5-6 hours in the boat.

3. the pin holes in my seats were wearing out due to abuse. thought i was going to have to replace them entirely. got some brass 1/8" pipe nipples, cut sections out of em to thickness of seat board, drilled hole larger and epoxied brass bushings in place, problem solved.

4. the black plastic pipe they put along exterior of all seams is getting old and wouldn't stay in place through its own tension at the split. i kept looking down and seeing my keel strip waving in the water alongside boat. anyone surprised that my solution was to go buy yet MORE SS hardware? got some #6-32 x 1.5" screws, drilled through black pipe and keel (CRITICAL SAFETY NOTE: drill only outside of the line of staples unless you want to induce leaks), and bolted with nylock nuts. fix has worked great and help up to beaching in surf. now i plan to do my "side seam" covers the same way since they're flapping a bit too.

i have step by step pix of the above fixage and will post soon. my side foam is coming off too (the rivets pulled through the foam; foam itself not deteriorating, yet.), and i have a fix for that in mind.....SS 6-32 x 2" screws with SS fender washers. will open it up soon for more crazy mods (securing the bow piece a little better than bits of nylon rope, and adding diagonal bracing to tie transom center to hull so i can run heavier motor) and i'll do this at same time.

 

[CaptainMorgan3]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

I was going to do something very similar to your fix for the pin holes (#3) wearing out. Decided to just build new seats instead. Used existing seats as template. Clamped them together with 4 clamps. First I roughly cut out the pieces with some additional wood on all sides with a circular saw VERY IMPORTANT. Then I routered around the edge with a flush bit. This is a router bit with the bearing at the top so that it rides against your existing shape, in this case a seat. This worked well but was a lot of cutting for a standard router. Worked out great though!!! Would do it again this way if i had to. I used marine grade plywood getting a deal on some but i think that you might be able to get away with just using pressure treated wood and sealing it with a black paint.

Also helped a buddy back home without standard tools do this same operation with a circular saw and sand paper. A jigsaw would have been nice but what we did was...Laid them directly on a piece of marine grade plywood. Traced them with a pencil and cut them out. I would measure twice though since marine grade plywood is not cheap or easy to find. You can find it at Home Depot and Lowes. You must find someone that knows what they are doing and get them to special order it. It costs about 72 bucks a sheet. Made cuts as close as we could with the circular saw then did a lot of sanding. And I do mean a lot!!! his looks great too! Maybe even a smidge better than mine due to the sanded finish.


Happy Boteing!!!

P.S. I see what you mean about a dead forum borato. I am still in a never ending search for some sort of foam that will work. Internet searches have left very little results. I won't give up until complete. Will post a product that works when I find one.

 

[barato2]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

might be worth taking a section down to your local plastics outfit to see if they can match it? this type of foam (or, at least, a non-UV-stabilized version of it) is used a lot for packing on computer hardware. you can cut a core sample with a hunk of EMT with end sharpened without disturbing the rest of it too much.

i eventually plan to replace the seats....just figured this would let me get a few more years' use out of the old ones. actually, might add brass bushings to new seats before i put em in service, since i know what will happen to the pin holes over time....

 

[Jay Runner]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

I'm looking at a used 14' porta bote that is missing the front plastic seat. The bote has the three steel rod tensioners/spacers on each seat that go to the keel and chines.

Black seats make little sense in hot climes, so was thinking of replacing all the seats with wood, finished in tung oil. I like a low center of gravity anyway.

Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, so has anyone done this already and can you offer any advice?

Thanks,

Jay

 

[barato2]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

Jay--what do you mean about the low CG? why would wood seats be any lower than the plastic ones? you'll still need to have the supports to the keel and chines because these not only support seats but help provide form of hull...the way you know when you hit hull speed on one of these is that the hull starts to undulate and the middle of the hull bows downward....very disconcerting til you get used to it (and not that comfortable even once you do!)

and while i LOVE oil finishes, not sure about that in a marine application....you might do better to go with urethane spar varnish. the seats are designed to "bow" upward in the center when boat is open, so getting the amount of flex right is critical....too thick a board won't work, and pine in that thickness (1/2" on mine) won't be strong enough. if you have oak or walnut, that might work.

i could get you good pics and measurements for the bow seat, but my boat is a 12'....i think that the dimensions in that area are about the same from looking at the PB website, just that the 14 has 2 addtl feet before transom, but you might need to modify a bit.

what's the guy asking for the boat? these are hard enough for people to move with all the parts, you should be able to negotiate him down a bunch.

 

[CaptainMorgan3]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

Yeah i don't quite see the center of gravity being affected by this; but maybe you see something we don't Jay. The Porta-bote already has a very low center of gravity making it extremely stable. The new plastic seats are garbage and break under the gentlest of use. I would plan on replacing too. I would think that Tung oil would hold heat better then just painting them with a weather resistant white paint. But i could be wrong. I painted mine white and I fish in Phoenix quite often. I haven't had any problems yet.

Also keep in mind that if you do change out with nicely finished wood seats that you will not have foam for additional buoyancy. I like the thought process though. If money wasn't an issue and I wanted my bote to be super upgraded I would go with teak. Would be a bit heavy but wood look sweet.

There I go mixing mods into the repairs section.

As for the price of the boat. I had a fried just buy a fairly good condition prota-bote for 400 bucks. It is a 12' and did not come with motor, battery, or hardware. He bought the hardware from porta-bote for 20-30 bucks I think. Just as an FYI.

 

[Jay Runner]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

Jay--what do you mean about the low CG? why would wood seats be any lower than the plastic ones? you'll still need to have the supports to the keel and chines because these not only support seats but help provide form of hull...the way you know when you hit hull speed on one of these is that the hull starts to undulate and the middle of the hull bows downward....very disconcerting til you get used to it (and not that comfortable even once you do!)

and while i LOVE oil finishes, not sure about that in a marine application....you might do better to go with urethane spar varnish. the seats are designed to "bow" upward in the center when boat is open, so getting the amount of flex right is critical....too thick a board won't work, and pine in that thickness (1/2" on mine) won't be strong enough. if you have oak or walnut, that might work.

i could get you good pics and measurements for the bow seat, but my boat is a 12'....i think that the dimensions in that area are about the same from looking at the PB website, just that the 14 has 2 addtl feet before transom, but you might need to modify a bit.

what's the guy asking for the boat? these are hard enough for people to move with all the parts, you should be able to negotiate him down a bunch.

Thanks for your reply Barato2.

I thought wood seats would put the butt slightly lower. Maybe not.

You are right about the urethane spar varnish.

I had no idea that bow flex tension of the factory seats was part of the overall equation.

Asking is $700. I'm going to forget this bote and wait. A factory seat is likely very expensive.

Thanks so much for your insights, as that bote would have been a fiasco in my hands.

 

[Jay Runner]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

Yeah i don't quite see the center of gravity being affected by this; but maybe you see something we don't Jay. The Porta-bote already has a very low center of gravity making it extremely stable. The new plastic seats are garbage and break under the gentlest of use. I would plan on replacing too. I would think that Tung oil would hold heat better then just painting them with a weather resistant white paint. But i could be wrong. I painted mine white and I fish in Phoenix quite often. I haven't had any problems yet.

Also keep in mind that if you do change out with nicely finished wood seats that you will not have foam for additional buoyancy. I like the thought process though. If money wasn't an issue and I wanted my bote to be super upgraded I would go with teak. Would be a bit heavy but wood look sweet.

There I go mixing mods into the repairs section.

As for the price of the boat. I had a fried just buy a fairly good condition prota-bote for 400 bucks. It is a 12' and did not come with motor, battery, or hardware. He bought the hardware from porta-bote for 20-30 bucks I think. Just as an FYI.

Thanks for your reply Captain Morgan (what a great name).

I was thinking the combined center of gravity of the bote plus passengers would be lower, maybe not. The buoyancy problem is another issue that would have to be dealt with.

As Barato2 mentioned, the factory seat uses bow flex tension relative to the hull. I can see myself underway with wood seats having not enough give, and the hull being ruined in the worst possible conditions (ain't that the way it always goes). I don't have boat carpentry skills or much experience with fine wood, and no way of figuring just the right amount, so will forget this bote and wait for another bote to come up for sale.

Thanks much for your insights.

 

[barato2]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

FWIW, you don't need much in the line of boat carpentry skills....the seats are just 1/2" marine ply in the older ones and all cuts would be simple to make with a circular saw with a straightedge and a couple of clamps, plus masking tape on the cut line to prevent splintering. flotation issue was dealt with in older boats by them gluing the foam (same stuff as the foam along the sides) to the TOP of seats, so it also pads yer butt. i'd be happy to post up good pix of my seats with measurements so you'd have plans to follow.

honestly, nice woodwork would sort of be a waste in the middle of all that ugly plastic...the beauty of these things, such as it is, is in their function, not their form. pretty homely but VERY seaworthy for a given size boat. maybe wave 4 or 5 Benjamins at the guy?

if you want it to look nice, consider a tinnie instead,,, you can make those GORGEOUS with some nice woodwork....look at the Starcraft forum here.

 

[bdeyes]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

Hello. I'm new to this forum but have done a lot of repairs to my bote. I picked up mine at a garage sale for 100 bucks. Mine had cracked plastic seats, deteriorated foam and rotted wood transom. I made a new transom out of doubled up 5/8 starboard, new seats out of doubled 5/8 mdo, and replaced the flotation foam. Ordered the foam here; Polyethylene - Closed-cell foam: insulation, packaging, foam toys. I got a half sheet with 1.5" thickness. Also, the wood seats do sit lower than the plastic.

 

[CaptainMorgan3]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

Hello. I'm new to this forum but have done a lot of repairs to my bote. I picked up mine at a garage sale for 100 bucks. Mine had cracked plastic seats, deteriorated foam and rotted wood transom. I made a new transom out of doubled up 5/8 starboard, new seats out of doubled 5/8 mdo, and replaced the flotation foam. Ordered the foam here; Polyethylene - Closed-cell foam: insulation, packaging, foam toys. I got a half sheet with 1.5" thickness. Also, the wood seats do sit lower than the plastic.

That is exactly what I have been looking for!!! Thank you so much bd! The link helped out tremendously. I have ordered my sheet and it will hopefully be here very soon!

Your wood seats look well done as well!!! Mine look very similar. I didn't use the metal legs though...I fabricated mine out of wood and nylon hinges. Nice job though.

A buddy of mine just bought one that came with a trolling motor and a battery for 240. I thought it was a screaming deal.

I can honestly say that we are looking at rigging his up to put a larger motor on so that we can go out into the sea of cortez...yea I know, not a good idea. We will be looking to make our maiden voyage out of rocky point sometime in May or June. So if I stop posting shortly there after...you know what happened.

Barato, you think there is any possibility of yellow fin tuna travelling that far up?

 

[barato2]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

no, not to Puerto Penasco...too shallow up there and fairly barren of fish life compared to further south. plus the edge of the water tends to move by 1/4 mile or so between high and low tides....tidal ranges up there are crazy! i won't even dwell on the drunk Arizonies that tend to fill the town.....much more of a party place than a fishing port. if you're coming from the east, try Bahia Kino or San Carlos/Guaymas instead....almost the same distance, much better fishing. or if from CA, try to get down to Bahia Gonzaga area. still not likely to see YFT at either, but you will potentially catch yellowtail, sierra, corvina, bonito, black skipjack, dorado, and grouper. they do get some YFT out of San Carlos each year but those are usually beyond PB range, even as i define "PB range". here's some pix of recent catches at Isla San Pedro Nolasco (by people who know what they're doing, not me!), about 7-9 mi off coast. quality YT at the island - San Carlos Fishing Forum - Topical Forums - San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico Forums

that was a great deal your buddy got. yeah, i'd definitely go with gas motor for Sea of Cortez....i started out using an electric as my backup and it was barely enough to make headway against a stout wind. the 2hp Honda will push me 5-6mph per GPS and the 8hp Rude gets up to maybe 13 mph.

 

[CaptainMorgan3]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

I went crappie fishing this past weekend and while reeling in got hooked on a long black pipe about 1" diameter...you guessed it. The keel protector. Barato, I am planning on doing something very similar to what you did. Did you use washers? How many spots did you do it along the keel?...I was thinking 4 since I think that is how many come in a pack.

My main concern is that the keel protector helps my Bote from splitting in half. That would be bad in some of the places I fish, especially with the amount of money I have into my tackle. I might go with a smaller diameter bolt and some washers...thoughts?

 

[barato2]

Re: Porta-Bote Repairs

hey....sorry i'm just getting back with you, out of town dealing with aging parents and their medical issues.

i used at most 3 or 4 on the keel strip.....even one right at the stern would probably do it. just a #6-32 xlongesticouldget (i think 1.5" or 1.75") machine screw with a #6 washer on either side of keel strip and then nylock nuts. the key is to be sure the holes you drill through the hull halves are outboard of the staples....that way, it tends to reinforce the staples rather than create a possible leak. i'll shoot some pix and post em next week.

i'm with you on that splitting in half Q.....since the thing is almost 100% made from stuff with lower specific gravity than water, it literally can't sink, so the "split along seam" scenario is what i'm most worried about on my offshore forays. esp since i'm scrawny and the hypothermia would claim me even faster than Joe Average, so i how far i venture from shore is directly tied to water temp!

 

[ip210]

I thought I would share my experience with repairing my 12' olive Genesis4. It was leaking at the transom bottom center at the sharp "fold/crease". I cut a piece of ABS from an old plastic parts caddy... added some adhesive.. 3M 404 I believe, and a patch of foam from the Walmart craft section... and all is good. I drilled out the 4 rivets and replaced the rivets with stainless bolts/locknuts. A very effective and simple fix... I tried to plastic weld, all different long-cure time adhesives.... and finally decided a real "mechanical" fix was needed....

 

[sealover1]

Hi is this thread still live? can anyone tell me which Gen this bote is please?.

I just bought it to do up looks to me though that the rear is somewhere low? any advice on anything that might be missing on this one please be great have hopefully uploaded a photos

 

[CaptainMorgan3]

I am almost positive that it is a generation 1. I think when they went to generation 2 the back of the boat became more like a typical transom. Normally I wouldn't post unless I was for sure. But this thread is pretty sparsely used.

 

[MTboatguy]

Boy this thread don't get much use, but I can confirm, that boat is a gen 1 boat, I just looked at one last weekend.

 

[Hiddenlake]

2nd life for old porta botes: pond fishing! Perfect for Andy and Opie trying to catch Big Sam! My sons bought a 10' gen 1 dirt cheap, the vinyl envelope was sound, but transom was totally delaminated, wooden seats were missing. Five years ago we rebuilt it into a rowboat (doesn't fold anymore) for fishing on a nearby 10 acre lake. Built a new transom out of 3/4" exterior plywood, with edges sealed in epoxy fiberglass. Bench seats are 3/4 clear pine over a steel angle tension member which is actually galvanized garage door wall mount angle support. 2x2 poly wood (white decorative moulding) is easily cut with a saws all to make compression struts from the steel beam vertically down to the keel and diagonally to the chines. 3/8" galvanized carriage bolts tie everything together. Replaced worn black keel guard with underground sprinkler tubing split with tinsnips. Painted transom and seats with exterior latex. Porta bote now has solid construction, easy to carry and never leaks. Total cost $100 spent mostly at Menards and 20hrs labor.