Newbie needs help!

rizzodun

Hey guys,

I recently got a second hand kayak, and have a couple of questions I'm hoping I can be helped with.

1. The kayak is watertight from what I can see, I put it in water and sat in it, and it wasn't letting any water in, however there is some damage on it, a few scrapes or cracks to the surface skin, and I'm not sure what I need to repair it.

I've taken a a few pics of the damage, maybe someone could advise me what can be done regarding a repair? I'd prefer to repair it myself rather than getting it done for me (I might actually use it then after pushing myself to do the work!)

I'm not sure on the policy for uploading pics so here's a link to flikr

2. I can't swim, to be blunt, I'm looking into rectifying that but would like to take the kayak out as soon as it's repaired, it'll only be on a calm lake, so I'm wondering will a buoyancy aid be sufficient? I want to make sure I'm well comfortable and safe before bringing it out.

OldmanMondeo

First off, learn to swim. Secondly learn to kayak and join a club. You wouldn't just hop on a bike without knowing how to cycle. Kayaking can be dangerous so go take a course, join a club and enjoy the sport.

as for the boat, looks like an old salmon boat made from fibre glass. These are easy to repair. As you say no water is getting in, then don't be too worried. A Buoancy aid is just that an AID. You need to ensure it is designed for your weight range.

Be safe and enjoy.

carthoris

There are generally 3 common rules when kayaking which form a simple foundation when you are out on the water. If these are not adhered to then like a 3 legged stool it gets more unstable the more you are missing.

The rules are as follows:

• Be able to swim
• Always wear a buoyancy aid
• Never paddle alone

To ensure your safety you should stick to these rigorously.

That said I think that if you are doing courses with a club then being able to swim is not so critical - they will generally do courses where the water is shallow enough that you can stand on the river/lake bed and as long as you are comfortable in the water you should be ok.

rizzodun

Thanks for the replies, I'm looking into both joining a club and learning to swim, that just leaves the first question, can anyone point me any advice, kit etc needed for the repair?

OldmanMondeo

As far s repairs goes, it depends on the construction of the boat. If it is polyester resin then this is what you need. But if it is expoy material, then you need expoy resins to fix it. It doesn't look plastic, but if it was, you need a heat gun to weld the boat.

You will need to give more information on the make and model of boat and some idea of age. If you can post a full picture of the boat people here might have a better idea.

whizbang

You need to get some Gelcoat to repair this, failing that, just ordinary fiberglass resin.( +hardener)
break away any loose bits, make sure to remove any bits of glass fibre that stick up.
Pour over just enough mix to fill in the gaps, then cover with a single wide strip of sticky tape. squeeze out the excess and wipe off. the tape will shape the contour. turn the boat over so gravity doesnt suck away the mix.
Put some tippex in with the mix if you want it white !

However , this boat is old, and looks to be well damaged. You MUST make sure foam support inside is solid. its also needed for buoyancy.

rizzodun

whizbang wrote: »

You need to get some Gelcoat to repair this, failing that, just ordinary fiberglass resin.( +hardener)
break away any loose bits, make sure to remove any bits of glass fibre that stick up.
Pour over just enough mix to fill in the gaps, then cover with a single wide strip of sticky tape. squeeze out the excess and wipe off. the tape will shape the contour. turn the boat over so gravity doesnt suck away the mix.
Put some tippex in with the mix if you want it white !

However , this boat is old, and looks to be well damaged. You MUST make sure foam support inside is solid. its also needed for buoyancy.

Thanks whizbang, I actually repaired it today with exactly that, I applied the gelcoat filler, smoothed over and allowed to dry, the instructions said to allow to dry and sand rather than cover, so had to run out and didnt get to smooth out the filler, but it seems to have done the job, hoping to get back to it later in the week, and any advice for maybe painting or polishing up the bottom when done?


EDIT: I should add that the support seems to be fine, structurally the whole kayak seems solid, I think most of the damage may be down to the way it was stored as opposed to abuse, but I can only guess, here's hoping I checked it right, I may want to start in shallow water!!

whizbang

be careful with the sanding, power sanders can overheat the surface and ruin it.
That's why i used sticky tape, wax polish does a great job after. T-cut if you want showroom stuff!
happy paddling!