Doing the gel-coat repairs are not difficult. You will first want to make sure that it is only the gel-coat that needs repairing and that you haven't worn the laminate so thin that you have a weak spot in the hull. If this is the case you might consider putting on Kevlar skid plates same as many canoes use. These will both restore the strength and provide a defense against future wear. Back to the gel-coat. Be sure that the laminate is completely dry and remove any loose fibers or resin chips. Using a 180 grit sand paper lightly sand the area to be patched and an area of about 1" or so beyond that. You do not need to sand hard simply remove any gloss and create the conditions for a mechanical bond. Once you have done this, with a clean cloth and some acetone, clean the area thoroughly and allow the solvent to flash off. To apply you gel-coat you will have best results if you can ensure that the room temp., the kayak temp. and the gel-coat itself are all around 70 degrees F. or better. Catalyze your gel-coat at 2%, don't try to compensate for cool temps. with additional catalyst that only works up to a point and it will not give you a durable repair. Position your kayak so that the gel-coat will not run when applied and apply it to the area that you sanded leaving 1/2" or so of the sanded area exposed. Put enough on so that it is above the final profile of the hull as it will shrink as it cures. Let it cure overnight for best results. When you return to it it will feel tacky, this is normal since gel-coats are made to receive laminates against them. Dampen a small cloth with acetone and wipe the patch off, you will pick up a little color at first, but it will remove the tacky surface. Using a sanding block and some 400 grit wet or dry paper begin sanding the patch alternating your direction at right angles until it is nearly flush. Switch to 600 grit wet or dry paper and take it down to the hull profile and also cover you original 180 grit area so that it all looks the same. If there is still a depression or the patch is below grade don't try to "sand it out" you'll end up with a bigger patch then your started with. Simply apply additional gel-coat to that area and start over. Once you have the patch looking good sand it again with a 1200 - 1500 grit wet paper to remove all of the sanding scratches from the heavier grits. Then polish with an aggressive compound and finish off with a polishing glaze. If you do the above you should end up with a very professional repair. It will probably not be invisible up close as gel-coat color characteristics are impossible to replicate in a patch but it will certainly pass the 3 foot test. If you have scratches on other areas of the boat that aren't so severe you can probably remove the with the wet sanding and polishing regimen described above. Also look closely at the scratches to make sure you've actually gone through the gel-coat because often on the "skinny areas" of the hull the gel-coat is naturally pretty thick because it is difficult to spray in those areas and it tends to accumulate. I hope this helps you. Steve Freund QCC Kayaks Sea kayaks direct Janesville, WI http://www.qualitycomposites.com -----Original Message----- From: dominique Berube [SMTP:dberube_at_vdsagax.ca] Sent: Thursday, December 03, 1998 11:03 AM To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subject: [Paddlewise] Our trip in Quetico P.P., gelcoat repair and next summer trip A few month ago, I joined the paddlewise list and asked information and experiences about doing the Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario with two fiberglass Sealution, one regular and one XL. As expected, I got quite a few answers, some saying: "forget it, use canoes", others saying: "will be hard but try it". This was followed by exchanges about the + and - of sea kayaks vs. canoes. Well, here is our experience: Lise and I did spend 3 weeks (from sept.23 to oct.14) within the park with our two Sealution. Great trip!! Total tranquillity, no clock with us, only the sun, the moon and the darkness to give us the time of day (our stomach too sometimes). We did not meet anybody, except on the second day, and we saw two mosquitoes !! We saw many moose, some very impressive bocks from fairly close (One swam just in front of our camp one morning). We heard the wolfs a couple of time, and once from just across a 50 to 70 metre (~200 feet) lake!!! Wonderful feeling to hear them, sitting by our fire eating fresh fish. We saw many bald eagles, playing above us. The weather was very nice, comfortable most of the time. The last two days were very windy, very very windy and fairly cold (some snow in the morning!). Luckily, we had the wind behind us and we were just flying. We covered about 240 kilometres (~150 miles) in 21 days. It might not be that much but we were in no hurry, we think it is always the best way to do any kind of trip: Enjoy each lake, each bay, each creek, each portage, each mud hole, take the time to observe the wildlife, the flowers, the trees... We had 30 kg (66 lbs.) of food and 63 kg. (121 lbs.) of equipment. Lise carried a total of 35 kg in here kayak and I had 58 kg in mine. A total of 22 portages. That's where we had some of the biggest surprises. On the first day we knew we had a long 880 metres (~half a mile) portage, first portage of the trip, full load. We each had a hip and shoulder strap which supported the kayak on our side, we used one arm also to support the kayak. In this manner we could shift the weight from the arm to the strap on the shoulder and rest one muscle or the other. Good thing we are in good shape and fairly strong. We usually split the portages into small trips of 150 to 300 metres for each kayak and one trip with as much as we could carry in our backpack and hands (for a total 3 trips, therefore a 100 metre portage demanded 500 metres of walking). We were well organized for packing and it did not take long to put what was needed in our backpack. We were sore the next day, especially some bruises on our hips, but after a few days it got much better. This first portage was the second longest we had planned, the longest one was nearer the end of our trip. But things never go as plan, water level was very low and most creeks were dry. The third day we were suppose to do two small portages of about 50 metres, they became one portage of 1 kilometre. Two days latter a 500 metre portage was transformed into a 1.8 kilometre (more than a mile) portage, that one was a hard one and we were very happy to be sitting in our kayaks again. So, after our trip, what do we think about a trip like this in kayaks. Great!! Kayaks have some advantages over canoes. Most important, we each had our own and could go each our own way and meet latter. Also, they are much more comfortable under rainy condition, a good rain jacket is the only thing needed, the lower body stays dry and warm. Portages might be longer to execute, but when we are in no hurry, what is the point. The first week the portages were hard and demanding, but by the second week they were quite manageable and on the last week they were quite easy (we did half mile portages in a breeze). One fairly important problem with kayak : if one of us got hurt, it would have been very hard for the other one to go get help by himself if any portage were in the way. We are thinking of getting a canoe in a few years, especially for river trips. We are already thinking about our trips for the next years. Next spring we are thinking about the east coast of the US, My sister lives in Athens (Georgia) so we go inland and return along the coast (We live in Val D'Or northern Québec). The year after will be Newfoundland! Naturally if any of you have any suggestion about great sea kayak destinations in these areas, let us know. We prefer places that are not too popular and quiet. This trip also brings another question. A few times, we dragged our kayaks on sandy and muddy river beds with only a few inches of water to support the kayak. Naturally, when we got back home we notice that we lost some paint and gelcoat along the bottom of our kayaks. Is it possible to do the repairs at home with basic tools? I have got a fairly good but basic shop (wood working shop mostly) and I have no experience with fiberglass work. Would it be better and/or cheaper to bring our kayak to a boat shop? Dominique Berube Val d'Or, Quebec *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Dec 03 1998 - 11:28:33 PST
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