>> I however revert to the "ram it full speed up the beach to keep my feet dry approach" once I have gotten a couple of scratches in the gelcoat anyhow. >> Me, too. Gelcoat, being harder than polyethylene, doesn't scratch as easily. Though I try not to scratch my fiberglass kayak unnecessarily, I don't think I really treat it that much differently than a polyethylene kayak when launching and landing. Take a look at the photos of seal landings and launches in the British sea kayaking books -- those are fiberglass boats they are using! >> Of course if I had a rotomolded plastic kayak I'd do the same thing to try to minimize the fins and curly-Q's that fuzz up the plastic and disrupt the smooth flow of water around the hull by sticking up into it. If I put a scratch in fiberglass it scrapes away some material rather than plowing it up into the boundry layer where roughness can really add a drag penalty. >> Most of the scratches on my three-year-old fiberglass hull are less than the thickness of a fingernail. >> Not only are they likely to be different than the designer intended but once they come out of the mold they aren't the same as others out of the same mold. >> One reason I sold my old Sea Lion was that it was hogbacked -- shallower in the center than at the ends. Every Sea Lion I looked at had this "feature." I was told this was a product of the molding process, and that the original plug did not have it. Also, I know someone who has a permanent dent in the deck of his polyethylene kayak where he bungies his water bottle. >> I tried unsuccessfully to find the newsletter article I read a few years back about the roof rack with four kayaks on it that slid off the roof of a car. Given the reputed toughness of plastic the occupants we surprised that even though it was one of the middle kayaks on the rack it was the plastic kayak that shattered and the fiberglass kayaks suffered either only minor easy to repair damage or some scuffs. If I recall correctly the plastic kayak was way beyond repair and offered in the newsletter to anyone who might want it for use as a planter. Some of my customers had a simialr experience. >> I think it was Bill Newman who once told me about a similar incident during the winter. Bill? Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Dec 06 1999 - 07:55:12 PST
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