> > >I test paddled a beautiful West 180 from CLC kayaks. The edge of the wood coaming was smooth and rounded and would not hold my neopreme sprayskirt at all. It would pop off, from the side, everytime I did a leaning brace. <snip> Is this a solvable problem.< < < > If the kayak has a smooth and shiny varnish finish on the coaming, that may be the culprit. Some new plastic kayaks also have a tough time holding on to a spray skirt, and the fix is to rough up the too-smooth gripping surface of the coaming with sandpaper. Perhaps try a fine grit first, and if the skirt still slips, go to a medium grit sandpaper. If the boat belongs to someone else, I'd be very leery of scuffing up a nice shiny surface without the owner's permission. It also may depend on the construction of the skirt. If the skirt has a tunnel sewn in the outside edge (with a bungee in the tunnel providing the tension), chances are it will have the nylon-faced neoprene contacting the coaming. The fabric surface will not provide as much friction as would a skirt that has bare neoprene or a rubber O-ring or rand as the contacting surface. If this is the case it may be worth smearing something sticky on the edge of the skirt to provide more friction (though I've never had to try this). You state that the skirt is the right size - is it really? If a skirt is just barely big enought to fit on a cockpit, it will tend to pop off as you lean, and usually at the side. The coaming profile may also affect how well the skirt fits. Erik Sprenne *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Mar 27 2001 - 21:33:04 PST
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