RE: [Paddlewise] Fibreglass kayak life

From: Coplan, Karl <KCoplan_at_law.pace.edu>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 10:02:51 -0400
If you are interested in the whole history of fiberglas boatbuilding, there
is an excellent book out there called "Heart of Glass."  It's mostly about
the "big boat" builders, but I seem to remember reading that somewhere along
the way the military tried to simulate the ageing process for fiberglass and
found no significant deterioration after a simulated 400 years or so.

I think you need to keep the UV off your boat to get these kinds of results,
as well as keep your boat off the rocks!  Your individual mileage may vary.
But a fiberglas kayak stored indoors out of the water when not in use should
last either forever or until you wear holes in the bottom through beach
landings, whichever comes first.

--Karl Coplan
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Received on Wed Sep 10 2003 - 07:15:12 PDT

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