[Paddlewise] Trailer mishap

My friends and I were looking for a boat launch while on a paddling trip in 
Rhode Island. We were hauling three kayaks on a trailer and perchance 
noticed in the mirrors that the plastic boat was hanging off and dragging 
her stern on the asphalt. How long a time was anybody's guess. After a few 
expletives we pulled off to the side of the road and discovered that the 
stern was worn completely through due to road friction at a point at the 
very top of the deck, just above where one would attach a rudder. The hole 
is about one inch in diameter. We duct-taped her well and were relieved 
that in moderate seas she did not take water anywhere near the damage. 
Nevertheless I am curious about how we'd go about repairing the damage. I 
seem to recall a recent thread on fixing holes in plastic, but am not sure 
it entailed a hole bored the entire way through the deck.

Could we bond a piece of plastic over the hole? Rivet a piece of aluminum, 
then seal it with ptex? Otherwise plug it? Will our local boat builders 
(Walden Kayak or Old Towne) do better work for moderate fees? Is the job 
too tricky for amateurs?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Tom

And... I am still thanking my Maker it was not my Gulfstream or my other 
buddy's Pygmy that sustained this indecency... though I have to admit the 
venerable yellow Old Towne looks like a ripe banana with the black plastic 
tape wrapped round her stern tip. Almost worth leaving that way, if not for 
safety's sake.


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