How to fix a leak in a fibreglass kayak?
I have got an old kayak from a friend of mine who no longer needs it. As he told me, there are 3 leaks in that Kayak, one of them is very visible being a coin-sized hole (:D). The others are pretty minor.
I, as a total rookie in kayaking and other water sports, do understand that using such a Kayak is something that rings the warning bell, but on a side note, I'll be keen to know what I can do to fix up those leaks?
P.S: Though shallow waters are not supposed to be taken for granted as Safe, I would try and use it for fun around the waters that I know. I do not intend to use them for extreme situations.
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Here is a pretty good article on repairing fiberglass hulls. Its aimed at dinghy's but I guess the same principles apply. Youtube also has many videos on fibreglass repair.
The small leaks should be reasonably easy to fix. Especially if it is just the gelcoat that is damaged rather than a complete hole. The gelcoat is the hard outer waterproof layer which covers the fiberglass. In this case you need some Gelcoat filler or similar. Follow the instructions, clean and sand the surround area and apply the filler.
The large hole will require a bit more work. You'll probably need to make the hole bigger and cut out the surrounding damaged area, sand around it before cutting some glass fibre roll to size (a bit bigger than your new hole). Then apply a resin, either a polyester resin and finish with gelcoat when dry or expoy and no gelcoat (I would probably use expoy, doesn't look as nice but is stronger).
Most boat shops/chandlers sell repair kits which should have everything you need.
As mentioned you can bodge it with duct tape quite well, but this has a limited lifespan and I wouldn't like to really on it too much, e.g. at sea/whitewater.
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Duct tape is not waterproof. If using tape use packing tape. But better to repair with bondo fiberglass repair or kitty hair.
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You're definitely right to be looking into repairs for your kayak and I'm afraid, although duct tape may seem a quick solution, when you take to the water you'll want something more resilient! You may find this article on how to make repairs to fibreglass boats of interest.
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