Re: [Paddlewise] Hull Repairs: "something or other"

Bill Hansen responded to this question:

<<<It's called plumber's ....something or other, maybe
plumber's bond??  Plumber's patch... plumbers tape??? Dunno.>>>

Bill's answer:

<Denzo tape. My local plumber's supply house denies its existence. But
it's
available from GRO.>

On our trip down from Bella Bella to Port Hardy, one of the kayaks was
experiencing leakage difficulty in the heavy, pounding seas (this was
prior to the infamous crossing). One of the trip's participants, who was
experiencing the problems with his Arluk, had some of the Denzo tape in
his repair kit. It is relatively expensive stuff, but with qualities
that make it ideal for in-the-field repairs he was told. While I'm sure
the product works well wrapped around leaking pipes and such things as
would arise during emergency pluming repairs, it certainly _did not_
work in our situation. I could give you verbatim what we said about the
product while attempting to use in north of Cape Caution, but Jackie
probably has filters on those exact words!

We eventually used fiberglass resin and cloth, using a "bon fire" as a
heat source. One of the repairs required the use of a rubber glove over
the bow tip of the kayak to keep water off, due to the long set-up time.
Looked like a condom -- looked like an add for safe sex kayaking :-)  I
typically carry epoxy for repair work, with glass resin backup. West
System has some nice little epoxy repair kits, sealed and ready for use.
Shelf life is good. Fiberglass repair kits (with resin) need to be well
sealed in a container to prevent contamination of your gear (I have some
terrible stories here), and rotated as shelf life is poor. Use high
quality resins. Make sure you bring some small disposable "acid"
brushes. They are about 1/2 inch wide, with tin-metal handle. The
unlucky repair jockey on our trip had to use his bare hands with the
resin -- not a pretty sight, and added to the plethora of expletives
deleted. (His disposable gloves lasted one minute). When I do complex
fiberglass repairs at home that precludes the use of gloves, I use a
barrier hand protection product, using three to four applications, dried
between applications before proceeding; I get easy clean up, good
dexterity and control, and only a bit of cancer :-)

BTW, thanks to everyone for all the hull repair posts and e-mails, both
back channel and otherwise. I will not respond to individual
back-channel e-mails, as I have hours and hours of prep work for my
little seminar next week. Thanks for "bonding together" everyone :-) I'm
enjoying the rolling thread too (my answer: buy a Nordkapp, you will
have no choice but to learn to roll real fast!).

BC'in Ya
Doug Lloyd


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