The fuzzies raised on the hull of a polyethylene kayak closely resemble those raised on the bottom of a P-Tex ski base when it is repeatedly run on thin snow with underlying rocks. In the latter case,the recommended therapy is scraping from tip to tail with a sharp metal scraping bar, followed by a vigorous rubdown with Swix Fibertex, which strongly resembles a Scotchbrite pad. I would forego the metal scraper, maybe use a razor knife to selectively trim big gouges. The Scotchbrite pad could be followed by a rubdown with a finer pad (I use ones advertised for wiping down the interior of microwave ovens). A coat of 303 should restore some of the lost luster. I used bicycle handlebar tape to enlarge the grip on a paddle. Get the high-density self-adhesive foam tape with feathered edges (looks like a flattened crescent in cross-section). For example, look at: http://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.html?SKU=6334 I first laid a strip along the forward side of the shaft on the right side ( I paddle right/feathered), then wrapped the grip area, giving me an elliptical grip where the original shaft was round. Dan Harrison (who will start tuning his skis any day now...) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Oct 26 2000 - 09:06:29 PDT
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