My poor Nordkapp, I've beat on it for 20 years now, and its mad as hell and isn't going to take it anymore. We've been having an awesome storm season here on Southern Vancouver Island, best in living memory really, though Oregon has gotten a bit more of the brunt (home of the whining Paddlerwiser, Dave Kruger!) :-) Was out on Wednesday in 40 knot winds for three or so hours, seas were rather lively with much higher squalls and hail from unstable pockets of cooler air aloft (you just don't get beautiful weather like this in the booring summer, Dave, with Mother Nature drum beating on the side of your skull cap). I got pushed up on a lee shore "beach" and bashed and then rolled over a log in the heavy shore break, and split the deck seam along from one bulkhead to the other (6 feet). The two halves are separated now, and I'm leaving for a Central Coast trip in a few weeks. HELP! 1) I can repair the inside seem with cloth tape and epoxy, but does anyone know a good way to stiffen or strengthen the joint so it is better than before? 2) Should I run an outside seam? It "seems" to me that these British boats are heavy and well built, but suffer from the fact that one little thin seam on the inside holds the whole thing together, and once an incipient crack starts, the whole thing un zippers (this happened to a notorious Nordkapp surfer on the Oregon coast a few years ago). 3) I have a custom $400.00 epoxy paint job. Will I have to sand that and then the underlying original gel coat to make an outside seam adhere properly? 4) My boat is kept outside, upside down. Has UV damage weakened the fiberglass? Does fiberglass have a lifespan? 5) Should I buy a plastic kayak from Costco? (VBG) Doug Lloyd Victoria BC Canada *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
At 12:46 AM 3/5/99 -0800, Doug wrote: > I got pushed up on a lee shore "beach" and bashed and then >rolled over a log in the heavy shore break, and split the deck seam along >from one bulkhead to the other (6 feet). The two halves are separated now, >and I'm leaving for a Central Coast trip in a few weeks. HELP! > >1) I can repair the inside seem with cloth tape and epoxy, but does anyone >know a good way to stiffen or strengthen the joint so it is better than >before? > >2) Should I run an outside seam? It "seems" to me that these British boats >are heavy and well built, but suffer from the fact that one little thin >seam on the inside holds the whole thing together, and once an incipient >crack starts, the whole thing un zippers (this happened to a notorious >Nordkapp surfer on the Oregon coast a few years ago). > Hi Doug, Can't tell you definitively how to make the repair, but I can suggest you confirm with the maker what sort of epoxy (vinylester or polyester) was used for your boat, so that your repair will bond properly. And while you're in touch with them, you could ask about their recommended repair technique, and about the warranty (after all, the boat probably didn't have a sticker specifically telling you NOT to use it as a log-pushing tugboat, did it?) Cheers and good luck, Philip T. N49°16' W123°08' "The opinions expressed in this posting are not necessarily those of my employer, or indeed, of any sentient being." *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
inetex wrote: > > I got pushed up on a lee shore "beach" and bashed and then > rolled over a log in the heavy shore break, and split the deck seam along > from one bulkhead to the other (6 feet). The two halves are separated now, > and I'm leaving for a Central Coast trip in a few weeks. HELP! > > 1) I can repair the inside seem with cloth tape and epoxy, but does anyone > know a good way to stiffen or strengthen the joint so it is better than > before? I fixed an Eddyline Wind Dancer which had suffered a similar seam separation on both sides of the cockpit. Basically, you need to hog out the old seam tape and resin (scraper, chisel, right-angle high-speed grinder with 80-grit on it -- a truly ugly task -- and wear a dust mask *constantly*). Take all the old seam tape out -- right down to the top surface of the main hull layup material, *but not into the layup glass!* This is tricky. I used polyester resin and mat on the Wind Dancer, but now I would use epoxy and mat sized for use with epoxy. (System Three out of Seattle, WA [http://www.systemthree.com/index.html] is a good brand, and they will ship you a useful, free booklet on epoxy.) The epoxy is stronger, remains pliable longer, and is less stinky. It is critical that you avoid skin contact -- the resin is not horribly toxic, but sensitization is probably inevitable on repeated contact, and can occur after just a few exposures in sensitive individuals. It is important to maintain a high glass/resin ratio (though you do not want any "dry" glass), so you will have to figure out some way to squeeze out excess resin from the layer(s) you put in. If you speak nicely to someone who does this sort of repair professionally, you might get to use their vacuum bag arrangement. I used lots of smallish lead bars, but multiple bags of lead shot would be better. I would not recommend trying this if you have zero experience with glass. > 2) Should I run an outside seam? It "seems" to me that these British boats > are heavy and well built, but suffer from the fact that one little thin > seam on the inside holds the whole thing together, and once an incipient > crack starts, the whole thing un zippers (this happened to a notorious > Nordkapp surfer on the Oregon coast a few years ago). 20 years of heavy use on that one little thin seam is probably a reasonable expectation. > 3) I have a custom $400.00 epoxy paint job. Will I have to sand that and > then the underlying original gel coat to make an outside seam adhere properly? Yes. You want mechanical bonding to the layers immediately adjacent to the glass in the layup. However, if you do a super job on the inside and *seal* the outside so water can not enter, the inside seam patch job should last for years, long as you don't do any more dancing with logs! > 4) My boat is kept outside, upside down. Has UV damage weakened the > fiberglass? Does fiberglass have a lifespan? Probably minimal UV damage, inless massive sections of the gel coat have worn away. A lifespan? I would think so -- the aging of the polymer would be accelerated by heat, ozone, etc. IIRC, the main effect of time is embrittlement, which could account for the fracture your boat experienced. > 5) Should I buy a plastic kayak from Costco? (VBG) Clumsy as you are, probably not a bad idea <G>. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
inetex wrote: > 1) I can repair the inside seem with cloth tape and epoxy, but does anyone > know a good way to stiffen or strengthen the joint so it is better than > before? > > 2) Should I run an outside seam? It "seems" to me that these British boats > are heavy and well built, but suffer from the fact that one little thin > seam on the inside holds the whole thing together, and once an incipient > crack starts, the whole thing un zippers (this happened to a notorious > Nordkapp surfer on the Oregon coast a few years ago). > My only caution on rebuilding so that it's stronger or stiffer than before is that you run the risk of creating a seam that is too stiff. That would cause the stress and flex to occur at a point above or below the seam and weaken that point. This could cause the next failure to be more trouble to repair. I'd be inclined to make the repair the same strength and stiffness as before and not mess with it beyond that. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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