Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe Blog

Perhaps you were out paddling on a river, nailed a sharp rock and put a crack in your boat.  What now?  Bitumen tape or Gorilla tape is probably the fix to finish your run, but is there a better long-term solution?  Perhaps!

The topic of our last Winter Clinic was plastic welding.  We learned that it’s not really rocket science!  There are some guidelines to keep in mind when determining whether a repair is appropriate, and some tricks that might make your repair a longer-term solution.

The first consideration is the plastic from which your boat was constructed.  Crosslink plastic, as used on many Jackson kayaks and older boats cannot be welded.  To be appropriate for welding, your boat needs to be constructed from linear plastic, as are most modern roto-molded polyethylene kayaks.

The second consideration is the extent and location of the crack.  Welding cracks in areas of substantial wear or stress will probably not be a viable long-term solution.  A weld might make the boat functional for friends to use on those easier runs or for use in the pool, but not for that class 4 or 5 waterfall run.  The ideal crack to weld is a small crack in a low-stress, low-wear area.  We can all dream, right?

What do you need to weld a linear plastic boat?  Not much!  Solutions for welding guns can be a hot air tool like the $250.00 Weldy Plus that we use at Alder Creek, or as simple as a Wagner Hot Air gun for $29.99.  What advantage do you get with a gun like the Weldy?  The ability to carefully control the heat vs. the high/low setting on an inexpensive gun.  Whichever solution you choose, an attachment like a wide slot or condenser nozzle will give you more control and precision.

You can purchase generic rods of HDPE, (high density polyethylene), but a better solution is to see if your kayak’s manufacturer can provide rods or to cut your own from a boat from the same manufacturer.  Often times enough material can be cut from the inside of the cockpit coaming to get a rod or two.  This also provides the advantage of a good color match.

Other tools to consider are a good scraper to clean up and bevel both edges of the crack, and scrape some of the excess plastic after welding, and a roller, or type of tool to put pressure on the fresh weld as it cools.  Some people also choose to drill a hole at either end of the crack prior to welding.  The logic behind this is that it may keep the crack from continuing to travel.

As far as the actual process of the weld, a picture, or in this case, a video is worth a thousand words.  Liquid Logic has an outstanding video on the actual process, which can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bos4lfOA3k

Boat Welding

Hopefully this is one of those skills you never find a need to use!  If you do crack a boat and don’t want to try repairing it yourself, bring it down to Alder Creek and we can help you determine the suitability of welding and even repair it for you.

***Get It Together***

FIRST things first: LIST all of your materials.

Start with a game plan! Embrace your inner artist and draw the boat with the outfitting you want. This will become both your shopping- and check-list. Do you have all of the D-rings, daisy chains, flotation, drybags, shock cord, static line, clips and hardware you need? DON’T FORGET to include things like adhesive, sandpaper, cleaning solvent and protective wear.

COLLECT all of you materials.

I’m sure you have good lighting and great tunes, but go through your list. Is it all there?

***Don’t Eat The Paste***

TIME FOR YOUR APPROPRIATE WORK SPACE AND SAFETY GEAR. Your work space should have ample ventilation and light. Be aware of the temperature as it will affect drying times. Safety gear may consist of gloves, glasses and a mask. 

PLACE and TRACE your odds and ends.

Use pencil! Because it is easy to erase. If everything is correctly marked, right where you want it, you can embolden your pencil lines with a marker and start prepping the surfaces.

PREP the surfaces.

Use your coarse-grit sandpaper and scuff up the vinyl backs of your daisychains and D-rings AS WELL AS the destination surfaces in the boat. This greatly increases your working surface area, and it will make for much stronger bonds. Use a rag with a cleaning solvent (we used methyl ethyl ketone, aka MEK) to wipe all of your sanded surfaces, boat and bits.

STICK to it!

Get your glue and something to spread it with. Foam brushes work well for application. For gluing VINYL-on-vinyl (D-rings and daisy chains to Royalex), use something like Vinabond. For gluing FOAM-on-vinyl (knee pads and thigh blocks), use a contact cement like Mondo Bond. IMPORTANT: TAKE CAREFULL NOTE HERE: You will apply two coats of adhesive to each surface. The first, thin coat, on each surface, MUST DRY COMPLETELY. Allow your second coats to get tacky, and then join the two surfaces. Carefully lay large pieces, slowly and evenly, minimizing and working out any air pockets.

Rock and ROLL.

Use your fingers to “stretch” vinyl pads into the perfect place. Then, using an even can or rubber roller, roll over the whole patch. Get the perimeter as well as the center of the patch. You don’t want edges peeling up.

***Cage Match***

MARK.

Decide how far apart you’d like your lines. Remember, the cages are there to hold your flotation in! 3-4″ between each lacing works nicely. Mark where you want to lace the cages, just below and along the gunwale, stopping inline with your daisy chain. It is good to leave a little room between your hole and the gunwales. 0.25-0.5″ should be ample. Double check that your marks line up with each other!

DRILL.

Put some holes in that boat!

TIE.

Lace your cage! Start with an excess of rope. You can always trim it at the end. Tie a nice stopper knot, like a double overhand, and put some tension in your line.

***Put A Bow On It***

Clean up your boat, and get it out there! If you have errant permanent marker lines in your boat, wipe remaining lines with some MEK on a rag.

There are all sorts of things we can do to customize our boats for performance, comfort or looks. On this boat, we also replaced a rotten yoke, added painter lines, drilled drain holes in the deck plates and rigged a custom dry-/floatbag setup for the center. Other bells and whistles you may be interested in are skidplates and footpegs.

See our finished product:

Paul Kuthe is the Program Manager at Portland, Ore.’s Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe, and a new-school leader in sea and whitewater kayak instruction. In this episode of C&K’s Virtual Coach, Kuthe covers an important sea kayak rescue technique to add to your bag of tricks when paddling with a partner, or teaching one to roll.

Paul Kuthe, the Program Manager at Portand’s Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe, is a new school leader in sea and whitewater kayak instruction and an expert expedition planner. In this episode of C&K’s Virtual Coach, he details the art of packing a sea kayak.

Paul Kuthe is the Program Manager at Portand’s Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe, and a new school leader in sea and whitewater kayak instruction. In this episode of C&K’s Virtual Coach, Kuthe covers self rescue in a sea kayak.