Fiberglass Kayak Repair

 When things go bad but not to bad, sometimes there is hope. This kayak was left on a dock unintentionally and the wind came up and blew it into the water. The lake then proceeded to rub it lovingly on the shoreline rocks for awhile until the owner was able to pull it out.

The damage ranged from scraping through the gelcoat to holes punched in the fiberglass and the seam between hull and deck popped loose.

After being involved with water in one form or another for most of my life, it still amazes me how much power the waves have and how unforgiving they can be.

The first step of course is to take off all of the hardware and really asses just how much damage there is. in our case here, we didn't find the split seam until the straps were off and we flipped it over to check out the hull.

Next step was to give it a good sanding with 50grit paper to cut the dirt, rough up the gelcoat and see what we had from that point. It was at this point that the rear hatch cover split separated as the adhesive holding it together gave out. All of the cracks had to be ground out to make room for a good bond with fiberglass reinforced epoxy, used as a filling agent, and any loose pieces removed or reattached with epoxy. Unable to reglue the interior of the seam break, rivets were used to reattach the hull to the deck and the joint reinforced with
the fiberglass/epoxy mix.

Final fairing was completed with a fairing compound/bondo mix and sanded to final shape. I am a big fan of duralux marine paint and used Cruser Blue on the deck and white on the hull. The cockpit coaming will be painted black with the same paint.

The fittings were cleaned and polished up with a good bit of armor all, perimeter rope replaced and new bungees attached. New toggles and a couple of buckles that couldn't be saved replaced and this boat is ready to go back on the water!

Paddle with this

 

I really enjoy making the Greenland style paddles. Its real satisfying to take a cedar 2x4 and create something that fits in your hand and begs for the water. I picked up a no.4 bench plane and sharpened it up. The curls coming off the bevels are just so nice! Besides, it makes the shop smell good.

Second Fill Coat

 Just needed a second fill coat of epoxy to give me enough base to sand and fair the hull.... oh boy, sanding time again!

Walk Arround

 This is a cool little walk around the gunnels on the latest canoe..

Decks and Gunnels are done

 The Ash gunnels have a lot of figure to them, pretty sweet actually. With black walnut noses, the fore and aft decks fit tight over the bulkheads and provide a great place to grab on. The seal coat of epoxy was just put on when these pictures were taken and I expect the wood to darken just a bit as it cures. 

The ash wood was sources locally and was destined to become fence boards. With the emerald ash borer in the area a lot of this material will become available.

The next step is to sand down the fill coat of epoxy and get it ready for varnish... then set the seats.

Milling the gunnels

Working on the 17' canoe first to get it out of the way. Today's project was to mill the gunnels and get them installed. I am using some ash lumber a friend gave me to try out, a little different feel than the maple used on previous canoes. The ash is a bit more flexible, easier to bend around the sides, temporary thwarts need to be installed to maintain the shape while the outwales are installed.

Scuppers were cut every 6 inches and are 6 inches wide and a quarter deep, just big enough to get a line through to tie down gear. Inwales were glued in place with epoxy and the outwales were screwed through the hull into the inwales.

still have a few more days on this one, next up is the milling of the decks!
 

Strips n forms

 The forms are all set and the strips have been cut and edge milled.

I use a cove and bead bit from Lee Valley tools to mill the edges of the strips, it makes a nice tight fit between strips and holds the glue well. I used 10 10'x5.5"x1" cedar deck boards to rip 150 or so strips. we will see if we need all of them.

Matched Pair

 The next project in the shop is a matched pair of canoes, one a 17 footer and the other a 12.5 foot solo canoe.

The first step is to set up the forms and get them level, plumb and aligned correctly.