Hi folks, Last Sunday I took my new boat out for the first time. Even for that short trip on a local channel I dressed up with wet suit and dry top. At that occasion I discovered some minor damage on my wet suit. Looks like I got hooked up on something sharp. It's not a hole all the way through, just some of the neoprene -not nylon covered in that spot- is pluged out reducing the 3mm drysuit to maybe 1 mm at that quartersize spot. No big deal but a possible weak spot for future damage -full hole-. Therefore I would like to patch that spot up. What is the best way to do this? Is there a filler I can use to fill that little pit to level (Aquaseal?), or is it better to get a neoprene patch to glue on top? Anybody who has done such repair jobs with good advice? I checked the paddlewise web page but couldn't find an entry there - found a lot of other interesting stuff. My new boat? It is a stitch and glue kayak, modified from the Volkskayak I built last winter. I reduced the beam from 25 to 22 inches, and lowered the shear to get a lower profile. Its a pretty snug fit! I added a retractable skeg to improve tracking, but looking at the waterline of the boat this may not had been necessary, time will tell. At least the mechanism works! I found the skeg design on a web page by Ross Leidy (http://ross.secant.com/kayak/)and changed few things to fit my needs. Cheers Ulli *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Slightly off-topic but it is about damaging wetsuits. For those of you with HydroSkin wetsuit, avoid velcro. Velcro attaches to the neoprene and tears it up. Since much of our gear seems to have velcro on it somewhere (booties, dry-tops, jackets), I keep all my neoprene and Hydroskin in stuff sacks. Just FYI. As for repairing, I'd say Aquaseal or similar and a round piece of thin neo or perhaps nylon. Like a Thermarest and tent repair kit. I've never repaired a wetsuit, so you'd be best off ignoring that advice and wait until someone more knowledgeable recommends something! -Patrick At 12:26 PM -0300 4/11/01, Ulli Hoeger wrote: >[SNIP] >At that occasion I discovered some minor damage on my wet suit. >Looks like I got hooked up on something sharp. It's not a hole all >the way through, just some of the neoprene -not nylon covered in >that spot- is pluged out reducing the 3mm drysuit to maybe 1 mm >at that quartersize spot. No big deal but a possible weak spot for >future damage -full hole-. Therefore I would like to patch that spot >up. [SNIP] *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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