OK, I've got to be up front. I'm a proud owner of my very first fiberglass kayak... a CD Gulfstream, with which I have sincerely fallen in love. After several years of owning plastic kayaks, I made the leap. She's a beauty: mango deck, glossy and nearly scratchless after a month of paddling every other day. Like a new car owner, I haven't gotten over the jitters of watching every little ding and scratch appear, especially on the hull during rescue and rolling practice. Yes, lots of you will tell me to "get a life," don't get apoplexy over the inevitable. But I'm sure you can empathize. Everybody (I'd guess) has had a $$$ boat and wanted to keep her looking spiffy. I know several of you folks do extensive work on composite boats, reinforcing, installing new bulkheads, etc. But for the moment, I'd just like to learn how to touch up the little dings in the deck, maybe prevent a future crack from spreading, fix a possible future, larger hull scratch. Is there a good repair book for composite boats that's current (I've found two 20 year old books listed online)? Can a good grade wax keep the deck somewhat protected? Should it be used on the hull? (I know someone's laughing out loud now :) I'm careful, really. I don't drop her, don't run up on rocky beaches, "parallel park and exit," don't surf with her, wash her after she's been in the salt, etc. Still, I have nightmares of the little ding that overnight grew into the Grand Canyon. Tom LeTourneau Wells, Maine *************************************************************************** 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 Wed Jul 31 2002 - 19:04:59 PDT
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