I have three of those long skinny boats in the shop, the kind where you sit on your arse and paddle with a double blade. But some of the repair lessons are transferable to canoe repairs
In the shop:
Old Current Designs Caribou
Current Designs Nomad
Impex Assateague
The Caribou and Nomad had experimental bottom work done last fall.
http://www.canoetripping.net/forums/...fall-shop-work
Results of that experiment:
The UV protective spray paint topcoat wore off on oyster bars, limestone and worm rock in less than a season. In some places I am told in less than a single trip.
The very fine 1 inch S-glass tape we used as one experimental stem skid plates fared no better than the 2 or 3 inch e-glass tapes. Both were worn through into the underlying gel coat after a single seasons hard use.
The single layer of Dynel is still bombproof. The topcoat of spray paint is gone, but the epoxy and Dynel are barely scratched. Dynel is some seriously abrasion resistant stuff.
The Caribou, which had graphite powder mixed into the epoxy and cloth, fared better much better that the unadditived Nomad rub strips. Graphite powder does add abrasion resistance, and some UV protection as well.
We, I supervised, sanded and cleaned last falls experiments and laid long (60 inch) narrow Dynel rub strips on the boats worn sharp vees, using a mixture G/Flex, West 105/206 slow hardener, overlaid and hand/foam roller compressed with release treated peel ply.
The Caribous Dynel replacement Dynel rub strips again got graphite powder and black pigment. The Nomads still virginal white bottom got just Dynel and white pigment. BTW, pigment agents do not add UV protection.
The reveal on the next mornings peel ply pull was quite smooth and near seamless. Not to say we did, as usual, make some mistakes:
We lightly topcoated the still sound Dynel patches with the G/flex/West mixture while we had some leftovers. We should have put peel ply atop those resin-only areas. It looks so much smoother, and the faint weave pattern left by the peel ply is a good mechanical bond for any topcoat.
We should have cut the peel ply larger than my frugal Scots 1 inch bigger all around. Especially on longer pieces; having more miss-aimed slop off the sides is good. 2 inches bigger all the way around next time.
We (er, I) had used some 4 inch glass tape and epoxy resin to reinforce the inside of the sharp chines. Some literally twenty year old 4 inch glass tape. One side delaminated and popped free with a gentle tug last fall. The other side delaminated and popped with all the adhesion of a Post-it Note this year. Ancient FRP materials are coating suspect in epoxy adhesion, and even frugal me will not use that 4 inch glass tape again.
We, er someone named Joel, got a wild hair and tried cutting the Dynel with a red hot curved putty knife blade. I even sharpened the edge. That did not work for squat. BTW, we later read that Dynel has some heat or flame resistant properties. Do not try that at home, if you manage to cut the Dynel it leaves burned purple edges.
What worked best, with the straightest cut along the line of the weave, was to lay down a cutting edge yardstick or longer board, carefully aligned with the fabric weave, clamp the board firmly in place, and use a razor blade for the cut. Excellent, neat, within-the-weave pattern cuts. Screw scissors.
Those repairs are currently curing and outgassing. Next up, topcoating for UV protection. We know this much from last falls experiment; spray paint does not last as a top coat on Everglades boats.
We are pondering using a poly or epoxy boat paint, but that is at least 40 bucks a can, and I am really tempted to simply brush on a 4 dollars on a can of Rustoleum enamel paint, and know that it will need recoating every spring.
Finished photos eventually, we still have some work to do.
