Re: [Paddlewise] Seasocks for Nautiraid (Was: Using oil and wax on wooden frame?)

From: Ferdinand Soethe <F.SOETHE_at_OLN.comlink.apc.org>
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 07:20:23 +0000
Zur Nachricht vom 23. Sep 99 5:32

> John Somers wrote:

> >         Keeping water and also sand and grit out of a folding kayak is a challenge
> > for me also.  I am concerned about the wear on the boat's skin when sand
> > gets between the frame pieces and the covering fabric.  Then the flexing of
> > the boat over time could wear holes through the skin.

Actually, I'm worrying about that too. Even though Elba does have few sandy
beaches, there was sand caught between frame and skin everywhere when we took
the boat apart. And that was after we completely flooded the boat in a
re-entry exercise, so I figure that it doesn't rinse out easily.

In a German paddle book that offers lots of sound advice (as far as I can tell)
they are worried for their Klepper as well and suggest to place a piece of
tarp where you are seated. That seems a good idea to keep most of the sand and
grid out and has additional use to place underneath your tent.

A seasock sounds like an alternative, but I'm not sure how it works with
steering cords and how you easily you can get to you bags and stuff. I'll
have a look at one next time in the store. 

> You may be worrying too much.  The hypalon hull is incredibly strong
> stuff.  I have seen such damage only rarely, just once really.  And only
> the patch that an owner put on later but I did not see the damage
> itself...I suspect it wasn't as bad as he thought.

Yes and no. Its true that I didn't notice any wear where the sand rubbed on the
inside of the hull after two weeks. But I don't agree that Hypalon is such a
tough material. After two weeks of carefull handling, we already had some visible
scratches and little holes in the keel strips. Since that never happened to the
hull of my old inflatable kanu (four years of use, lots of scraping across river
bottoms), I'd say that hypalon in comparison is quite sensitive.

> SEDA sells seasocks that attach to cockpits of hardshells and single
> folding kayaks.  These would fit on the Nautiraid single and the two
> cockpits of the doubles.

Thanks for that advice. I'll ask for that.

Ferdinand

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Received on Thu Sep 23 1999 - 01:05:50 PDT

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