Folbot shrunk?

[jspezia]

John Spezia
I have an old greenland two that worked great for many years, but the last time the keel latch board would not shut and give shape to the boat. All keel parts in bow and stern in place but the board latches would not shut close. It was 75 F and it not been used for several years and was stored out with no frame. Did it thrink? Become less elastic with age or lack of use? Help? And we did use force but not too much.

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[Boatman53]

Welcome John. If I can state to obvious, and keep in mind I’ve never assembled one but is the frame in correctly and is the cover centered on the frame? Bow of the frame to the bow of the cover? Again I’ve never assembled one. Other than that have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in again?

 

[martin2007]

Hello John,

Several years ago I had a Folbot Greenland 2 skin shrink after extended storage (dissassembled).

I managed to stretch the skin out sufficiently to be able to pop the keel boards into place.

I laid the partly assembled hull out on a soft wooden surface, our deck, and I filled the hull with water. I let it sit for several hours, then emptied it. While still thoroughly wet, I slowly increased pressure while descending the keel boards and eventually, managed to coax the boards into place. I refilled the assembled boat with water again to "stretch" it to try to compensate for the shrinkage.

I kept the boat assembled after that, since it wasn't getting much use, and I didn't want to have to repeat the exercise with little assurance that it would work every time. Apparently, this was a fairly common problem with Folbot models when stored for long periods.

I learned about that issue and others from the wonderful Folding Kayak site that is now defunct.

Hope this helps.