Tripper Royalex - please help diagnose interior surface cracking

[Pseudonym]

I have a 70s era Royalex Tripper that I bought a couple years ago. It was mint, but certainly looked like it had been left out over the years: faded colors, gunwales, etc. The exterior vinyl layer seemed quite soft in comparison to newer Royalex. I paddled it empty many times that first year I owned it and then loaded it heavily and took it down the Machias River, in Maine, this past spring. Aside from scraping the heck out of the bottom on the bony Machias, it performed wonderfully and I did not notice any other deterioration. I haven't babied it and I've put it down perhaps a little more roughly than I should after a portage (when I've been tired) but it's Royalex, so I presumed no harm no foul.

However.... now I do see some harm in the form of the interior vinyl surface cracking along the edges of the bilge, where the hull turns upwards, and along the keel, at the extreme front and rear. The edges of the cracks are even turning up a little, as thought it could start to peel. There's no cracking of the exterior surface as far as I have noticed.

So, I'd like to seek the collective wisdom of the forum and ask: What's the diagnosis and prognosis? I had a custom spray cover made for this boat and I'm hoping to get many more years of use.

Thanks!

 

[M Clemens]

I made the mistake of buying a Wenonah Sandpiper that been stored for years exposed to the elements and had similar cracking. The cracking did not appear until after I used it a few times, as the hull seemed hard and inflexible, not 'soft' as you describe. The outer layers of Royalex are vinyl, so a typical failure mode for excessive sun exposure. Reminded me of the vinyl dashboard of an old Florida Caddy I bought some years ago. Odd that it is occurring on the interior only, is it possible it was stored gunnels up?

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I can't guess anything other than that the inner vinyl layer is just so old and exposed to who-knows-what that it's crazing and cracking. I'm no plastic canoe repair expert, but I suppose I'd consider painting some epoxy over the cracks in the hopes that that might stop them from spreading. If that didn't work or seems insufficient, then actually patching over the cracks with epoxied fiberglass. Those fixes probably wouldn't make the interior look any worse aesthetically than it already does—just some more battle scars.

 

[CaptainOllieWest]

Dang, that sucks. I have basically the same canoe. I will have to keep an eye out for similar issues.

 

[ppine]

Sun damage is real. UV light causes some deterioration of manmade materials over time. Plastic boats do not last forever. Be careful about taking that boat on a long loaded trip in the future. Monitor the cracks. Not much you can do about them.

As a cautionary tale, I will mention the sudden demise of an early Kevlar canoe made by Sawyer. It was a Charger from the 1970s. It was my all time favorite canoe, but it had sun damage. I loaded it up and ran some difficult rivers with it. At 18 1/2 feet it was big, fast and deep.

One day some years later I was paddling the old boat unloaded on a lake, when it literally started to fold in half. The old laminations just started to let go. I put a new floor of glass and epoxy in it and sold it ....cheap.

 

[PaddlingPika]

Somewhere some time ago, maybe on paddling.net, I saw comments from someone who had noted cracking of the interior vinyl on vintage Old Town royalex canoes. There was a recommendation to carefully dremel the vinyl layer along the crack and fill with plexus to stop growth of the crack. My 1979 Tripper developed a couple of hairline cracks in the middle of the floor, not nearly as many and as extensive as your case. I tried the dremel and plexus treatment. So far haven't seen further cracking, though the Tripper rarely gets used these days.

 

[ppine]

Sometimes I just want to paddle a Tripper.

 

[Pseudonym]

Thanks everyone. The Dremel and epoxy method seems to make good sense. That would address the edges of the vinyl that seem to be peeling upwards. Thankfully, I'm not too worried about the aesthetics, since this is more workboat than showpiece.

I paddled the boat empty for a few days last week and can't say definitively if any more cracks have developed. I might trace the existing cracks with a sharpie marker or pencil, so that I can benchmark its current condition and then see how many more cracks develop with each use. If they're developing too fast, then I might not even bother with any major repairs and consign it to terminal usage until I can get my hands on another Tripper.