EazyKeel strip

Anyone use this and like or dislike? I added one late in the season and wonder if i am going to really like or not. I am concerned about it holding invasive aquatic material on the edges where i had to trim to go around the curves. Am i over thinking this?

Other than this concern, i might be okay with it. Just wondered what others experiences have been.



Thanks

Good point!
I’ve had some on the stems of my kayak since last summer and I really like it for it’s toughness.



There are some gaps in the bond where it rounds the stems–little bubbles at the edge of the material. I just looked at mine and there is a little bit of vegative matter in there, undoubtedly picked up when I dragged through weeds at the edge of Lake Marion last week. How viable, or even what, it is, I don’t know.



I like the stuff and may try to seal up the little voids rather than remove it. Beyond that, I suppose you could treat it with a little bleach solution, but there’s another chore we don’t need.



So, I have no answer.



~~Chip

thanks
sounds just like mine. Just curious, thanks for sharing.

Bleach spray or Round-up.

I like it
That strip saved the keel of my boat a couple of times. As for adhesion it’s correct that the strip might have adhesion problems on the transition of a plumb stem or a plumb stern. I watched the local paddle shop hastily apply the strip to my wife’s boat and it puckered going up the stem. For my boat I purchased the strip and applied it at home carefully with a heat gun with no adhesion problems.



I would slice segments out of the strip to help it around a corner rather than not use it because of the strip puckering.



I know of paddlers who put the strip on their hard chines as well as the keel.

Like, generally
I’ve installed it on 3 of my kayaks, and installed for several friends. It’s not perfect, but pretty good stuff. It can be cut by hitting something really sharp, but that would have done things to the kayak with the strip not there to take the punishment.



I use a heat gun to warm it up well when applying. At the stern of most boats, the angle is too great to apply without puckering. I make a cut on each side at the pucker and overlap the tape so it’s flat. Then I cut out a dart (a V-shaped piece) where the tape overlaps itself. I do this so the tape will lay flat with no overlap after the piece is removed. I paint over the cut with Aquaseal or Marine Goop to further seal it.



Done like this, I think it would be hard to pick up invasives. To be sure, washing down the boat with a hose is always a good idea.



Full disclosure - I became an official installer for KeelEazy. I find that a 2-3 foot piece at bow and stern will protect a boat from most incidents, and saves some money. If you don’t mind the cost, a full strip will take some wear off the center keel line.



Alan

North River Kayaks

My only complaint…
…about the KeelEazy is that it has a relatively high coefficient of friction compared to fiberglass and gel coat. Only an annoyance when expecting to slide over a submerged obstruction like a tree or rock as the boat tends to “stick”. My only significant issue with it comes into play when I want to pull my boat up over logs and rocks between the water and where I want to leave my boat. Lift it and set it down? No problem. Drag it? A friction problem.

In most cases this is not an issue and it’s a good fit for my dayboat but I will continue to go for a slippery fiberglass keel strip on my trip boats where carrying the boat solo is not an option and I must be able to drag it over whatever the shoreline presents.



Jon

http://3meterswell.blogspot.com

one more
my zephyr155rm and ivalu hardchined ive put easykeel. It sure protects and the plan is to add on the chines as well on ivalu. My pintail has a keelstrip from the factory. A fiberglass keelstrip with westsystems carbonfiller would perhaps be a good choice with regards to friction.

I did make cuts when going around
the curves, but still got little “ruffles” (tiny ruffles) on the edges as well. doesn’t sound like i am the 1st. which is good to know. Thanks.