Repairing and Customizing Fiberglass Kayaks: Intro
Above: Wow. Gouges like these are a commonplace on sea kayaks. But they're not as difficult to repair as you might think. Lunestudio photo There are plenty of advantages to learning how to repair and customize fiberglass, especially if your kayak takes a fair share of bumps and scrapes. Let's say you bash your boat in on the rocks or make a too-hard landing on the beach -- or for that matter
Repairing and Customizing Fiberglass Kayaks: Part 1
The hull damage above is ugly but by no means unusual, overly difficult to repair, nor beyond a first-timer's repair skills. Over the next several posts, we'll watch Brian Nystrom transform the fiberglass and gelcoat damage into a smooth and slick, strong and virtually invisible repair.The first step is to understand what makes up a damaged sea kayak's matrix of gelcoat, resin, and
Repairing a Damaged Sea Kayak Part 2: Rasp, Grind, Sand
Above: The photo is pretty overexposed, but you likely get the idea. Brian Nystrom gets down to the most unnerving step in repairing a damaged fiberglass sea kayak: rasping the cracked, crazed and broken gelcoat. That's a rasp he's working with as the tears off all the gelcoat around the damaged area shown below and in the previous post:You need to rasp aggressively to gain access to the
Repairing a Damaged Sea Kayak Part 3: Back and Fill and Patch Again
Above: Deep damage to the gunwale of a Romany Explorer. Note the differences between damage to the gelcoat and damage to the fiberglass. Doubleclick this and all other images to enlarge. During the rasping and grinding stage (step 1), you need to make make a hole in the side of your sea kayak quite a lot larger than the gash and crazing shown above. You'll need to grind off a lot more gelcoat,
Repairing a Damaged Sea Kayak Part 4: Applying the Patch’s First Outer Layer
Photo: Using an inexpensive China bristle brush, you'll need to brush epoxy on to the backpatch and the fiberglass you feathered with sandpaper. This process is called wetting out. Wetting out before applying new fiberglass ensures a good chemical bond between the substrate and the new fiberglass. Doubleclic the image to enlarge Wet out all subsequent layers of fiberglass after you have has
Repairing a Damaged Sea Kayak Part 5: Stack the Patch and Compress it
The final steps in repairing hull damage to a fiberglass sea kayak are pretty straightforward. After you prep the damage, backpatch it and lay on five or so layers of fiberglass, the structural part of the repair is complete. (To read about those previous steps follow the links below.) Key to the repair is to be sure to wet out each layer of fiberglass with a China bristle brush. Then break out
Repairing a Damaged Sea Kayak Part 6: Apply Gelcoat, Buff, and You’re Done
Applying gelcoat is the final step in repairing a damaged fiberglass sea kayak. Doubleclick this and all other images to enlarge. Brian Nystrom photos Gelcoat serves numerous functions. A tough and durable coating which can be tinted any color you can imagine, colors a sea kayak and provides the hull's first layer of abrasion protection. Gelcoat is pretty rugged stuff. More subtle yet equally
