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Poobah · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 2:27 am Post subject: Popeye the raft

Help Mr. Solo...this is my new raft, Popeye He's a vintage Doughboy Aqua Mat made of "Forti-plyed Vinylite." But he doesn't have a check valve. Just a tube. I assume you just bend the tube over, and put a clothespin on it. Maybe I could trap a cork or dowel in the tube with a small hose clamp. OK for swimming pools, but maybe not for wave riding. Still though...an interesting blast from the past. And a serious babe magnet, too.

Solo · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 3:03 am Post subject:

Poobah,

I did a little snooping in Google and it seems that your air mat may date back to the late 1950`s- early 60`s. Hardcore pool-issue equipment!

If you want to save your mat as a collectable, I`d just take a small dowel and slightly taper it to function as a plug. But if you`re planning on using it for surfing (looks slippery... and I dunno about that pillow!), I`d cut the valve tube down to about 1/2\" long. For a really serious valve plug, some of the nicest stuff I`ve ever used for small prototypes is Delrin or UHMW
(Ultra-High Molecular Weight) polyethylene. Hope that helps!