Hello all,
New member and new to canoeing as well. Ever since I was small I loved Canadian canoes and very recently I found one I could afford (I'm dutch and they're pretty rare in the Netherlands, if you find one they're usually very expensive), mine cost 400 euro. All I could find under "Pegaso" is that it was probably built in the 90's in Germany. It was very dirty and black and after buying a good underwater boat cleaner it looked pretty much new.. Until I found the bottom was full of little round bumps. After asking around and breaking one open (cue the vinegar-y smell so dreaded by boatsmen, i learned) it sadly is riddled by Osmosis There's literally hundreds of them, most less than half an inch across.
I know on the hull of a boat you can use a scraper, remove the paint and gelcoat and redo them but the bottom is very flexible and I would hate damaging it further. My question to experienced people here: can it be saved? Or is this a very expensive lesson (the previous owner refuses to response and it's bought privately so no money back) and should I take my loss and dump it? I can't spend hundreds more euros on repairs, sadly, but I'm pretty handy so if it's doable I'll learn how.
If it can be repaired, is it necessary to strip the entire bottom or can I just pop/sand open all blisters, clean them (how?), let dry thouroughly and fill with (marine) epoxy or something? I'd love to go canoeing trough our beautiful nature reserves but I want to be sure I won't sink anywhere quiet..
Thanks for any help and comments!
Alwin
New member and new to canoeing as well. Ever since I was small I loved Canadian canoes and very recently I found one I could afford (I'm dutch and they're pretty rare in the Netherlands, if you find one they're usually very expensive), mine cost 400 euro. All I could find under "Pegaso" is that it was probably built in the 90's in Germany. It was very dirty and black and after buying a good underwater boat cleaner it looked pretty much new.. Until I found the bottom was full of little round bumps. After asking around and breaking one open (cue the vinegar-y smell so dreaded by boatsmen, i learned) it sadly is riddled by Osmosis There's literally hundreds of them, most less than half an inch across.
I know on the hull of a boat you can use a scraper, remove the paint and gelcoat and redo them but the bottom is very flexible and I would hate damaging it further. My question to experienced people here: can it be saved? Or is this a very expensive lesson (the previous owner refuses to response and it's bought privately so no money back) and should I take my loss and dump it? I can't spend hundreds more euros on repairs, sadly, but I'm pretty handy so if it's doable I'll learn how.
If it can be repaired, is it necessary to strip the entire bottom or can I just pop/sand open all blisters, clean them (how?), let dry thouroughly and fill with (marine) epoxy or something? I'd love to go canoeing trough our beautiful nature reserves but I want to be sure I won't sink anywhere quiet..
Thanks for any help and comments!
Alwin