Sticky Walker Bay

Russ Calasant

Russ Calasant

Active Member
Dec 9, 2009
2,128
East Greenwich, RI
Boat Info
2001 480 DB
Engines
CAT 3196
I have had my WB RIB for two seasons, it is PVC. The tops of the tubes have become as sticky as fly paper. After a bit of research I have found that it's a fairly common problem. I have also found that WB does not typicaly stand behind it and my only hope is that Defender where I purchased it will in some way. I have just sent the request so I will follow up with that information. Other than providing a "buyer beware" I am interested if others have had any PVC issues. In my particular situation the boat is stored summer weeks on Weaver Davits upside down. In the winter it is stored in a heated garage on a trailer. Additionally it has been cleaned and protected since new. The boat and motor were purchased new, the motor has 35 hours on it and the boat has not seen more than few more hours more, total, in the sun. Crazy!
 
Russ, I have a friend who has a w/b, fairly new, and he too is having problems with it. His is leaking after only 3 years. I have had 2 avons many years old with no issues....get what you pay for I'd say. Is your boat fixed yet? Send me a pm to let me know
 
That sticky stuff never comes off the seat of your pants!!

The only fix is paint.
A friend had the same problem with his Walker Bay.
He elected to trash it after three years.

I have one year on a "tuff coat"paint job on my Baltic.
The Baltic didn't get sticky but, was getting thin from me scrubbing it with a scotchbrite pad.
Defender sells the paint and it has worked very well so far.
I applied it with a roller after cleaning the boat with M.E.K.
It seems to have adhered to the (PVC) material perfectly and it is smooth with no roller marks.
I use the dink a lot and dont ever deflate it.
(The paint says the boat can still be rolled....I just dont need to).
With a careful paint job the boat will look great and still be usable.

Good Luck,
Mark.
 
Thanks Mark, I will check it out but I hesitate to paint.
Ric, big difference between buying cheap and a manufacturer using defective or cheap material. This WB was not cheap and comparable to most others in it's class including Avon. I have had several PVC boats and never had issue even though I didn't know a lot about the material differences until now. The material is defective and should be covered under warranty they just don't make it easy. Hey what the heck, after a couple new motors whats a couple more thousand for a new dink?! Then sell it all and hunt for a 560DB. Glutton for punishment.
 
Spend $4K to fix the bad engine, sell the boat with dink included (proffessionally maintained mint 370DA with awsome dink and davits sounds very good). A cost effective way to solve both problems...then get new DB diesel and you're happy camper....:)

Sorry to hear about the dink issue, my friend. After the motor issue you really didn't need this one. BTW, that dink looked great just few months ago....what happened?

I think that the best preventive measure is to keep the dinks covered. But, since yours is flipped on the side it shouldn't be an issue, unless the salty water spray is the contributor. I assume that you rinse your rig when you're back in your slip, though. So, that sounds like just product defect.

My "cheap" 6.5' baltik (it was my first which I used for 240DA) was 3 yrs old, it had no cover. The only sticky problem it started showing was on the "Baltik" labels, but no where else. It's sad that you go out of your way to pay more for "better" product but it turns to crap. I don't recall 100% what I used to clean it before I sold it, but two things come to mind Aceton and special liquid to remove glue from shrinkwrap tape. I think I got it at local WM.

I would make it an issue with the vender. In worst case scenario, if they won't fix it for free or at least for a reasonable cost, at least they can provide some helpfull guidlines.

Good luck,
Alex.
 
Last edited:
Alex F said:
Spend $4K to fix the bad engine, sell the boat with dink included (proffessionally maintained mint 370DA with awsome dink and davits sounds very good). A cost effective way to solve both problems...then get new DB diesel and you're happy camper....:) would love too!

Sorry to hear about the dink issue, my friend. After the motor issue you really didn't need this one. BTW, that dink looked great just few months ago....what happened? It looks good it's just sticky and has been getting worse. I have always cleaned it and used protection. ( I am still talking about the dinghy!)

I think that the best preventive measure is to keep the dinks covered. But, since yours is flipped on the side it shouldn't be an issue, unless the salty water spray is the contributor. I assume that you rinse your rig when you're back in your slip, though. So, that sounds like just product defect.

My "cheap" 6.5' baltik (it was my first which I used for 240DA) was 3 yrs old, it had no cover. The only sticky problem it started showing was on the "Baltik" labels, but no where else. It's sad that you go out of your way to pay more for "better" product but it turns to crap. I don't recall 100% what I used to clean it before I sold it, but two things come to mind Aceton and special liquid to
remove glue from shrinkwrap tape. I think I got it at local WM.

I would make it an issue with the vender. In worst case scenario, if they won't fix it for free or at least for a reasonable cost, at least they can provide some helpfull guidlines.


Good luck,
Alex.
Click to expand...


Thanks Alex, I am hoping for the best
More problems!
 
I just found the paperwork, the boat is a 2009 purchased in July of 2009 so it is under warranty. Mike Perez on this forum also went through this with Walker Bay and has provided some helpful info. I will keep following up!
 
A rather sticky wicket I would say....
 
Wow. Never heard of sticky PVC issues. Deterioration from UV, seams coming apart, yes. But not sticky.

I was leary of PVC when I was shopping for a dink so I would up buying a Hypalon Achilles. Great boat but too damn heavy. Wound up selling it after 3 seasons for lack of use in near mint condition. Gotta love hypalon for longevity but it is a beach to handle without davits.
 
I had never heard of sticky PVC either. You can bet I will buy Hypolon next time or at least the generic version since Dupont no longer makes Hypolon- I wonder why?
Henry, that is good to know about Avon.
Ron, what are you using now? Want a sticky Walker Bay?!
 
Henry Boyd said:
We've had the sticky problems a number of times over the years with Zodiacs. I just bring it back to the dealer, he calls Zodiac, and then they send a new one in couple weeks.

Henry
Click to expand...

Wow, I was expecting much better results with Zodiacs for the price they charge. It's good to know that they stand behind their products, but still it sounds there's a quality control issue.

I'm currently on my 2nd baltik. Had 1st one BA65 for 3 seasons of use (4yrs total), the boat did not have cover. Sold it in like new condition. Current one is BA85, which has 3 full seasons of use. It's in like new condition, but this one was always covered. The only difference I see that the "baltik" label is not sticky on my current one. Possibly the fact that it's covered all the time helps preventing the issue to develop. As I mentioned earlier, the 1st dink started developing the sticky at the end of the third season, however it wasn't a too big of a deal to fix it since the area was small.
 
Russ
I am "dink-less." I bought it with the plan to tote it around on the bow. WAY too heavy for one man to get it up there. Had grand visions of puttering around the marina and local waters but that just never happened. An experiment that failed. Cut my losses and a guy from PA got a great deal on ebay.

We don't transient at any marinas unless they have docks and CATV so moorings are not encountered. Also, the wife forbids any overnight anchoring out so the need for the dinghy was obviated. I did love my Achilles, though. Fantastic solid boat, tough as nails. 9'4", aluminum roll-up floor. Bought it as a "leftover" from Defender.
 
Alex,

We've had a number of Zodiacs of various shapes and sizes going back to the early nineties. We found them to be the most useful in getting down river to the beach and for exploring the marsh. It seems that the grey dinghies are the most susceptible. We had a couple of the red sport boats, and the white tubed ribs that were fine. But you are right, whenever we had a problem of any sort we contacted the dealer and they took care of it. Its probably a combination of two reputable companies, Zodiac and the dealer.

Henry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,253
Messages
1,429,330
Members
61,128
Latest member
MinecraftRuSwilm
Back
Top