Hi
This topic may have been raised before. My outer layer of my my whitewater canoe has delaminated in large section. There seems to be pockets with air. There are no holes or craks.
How can I fix it? I was thinking of drilling a sequence of holes then injecting adhesive and finally then smoothing it. Is it a good idea? What kind of adhesive should I use?
Do I need to worry about it?
Thanks
Doron
Contact the manufacturer.
If you are the original owner, push for a new boat or, if that won’t do, a prorated replacement. If you’re not, ask for recommendations.
I had a Whitesell
delaminate. I cut out the rotted foam core, squirted in gorilla glue, let it foam up, sanded it down, then glopped a thick layer or 3 of ABS/Acetone slurry ove rthat. It’s held pretty well for about 4 years now, though I rarely paddle that boat. Check to see why your hull is delaminating. If it’s major, some cutting may be in order, if not, injection of adhesive may work. I strongly recommend G-Flex and fiberglass, g2d uses s-glass which is probably better. Figure it’s just a simple boat and you’re not going transatlantic, so just experiment. Met up with a top slalom racer the other day, and smiled when he actually added a roll of duct tape to his list of things to bring along.
I would not use S-glass and G-flex
because S-glass is harder to wet out than E-glass, and G-flex is thicker than regular West 105/205.
On the big bubble delamination situation, I suggest getting on cboats.net. Those guys all hammer their boats hard, and some have also had to deal with serious delamination.
If the boat isn’t too old, it is possible that the manufacturer will “grant” a new hull. I seem to recall that Mad River had temporary problems with Outrage delaminating, but I have a 12 year old MR Synergy that has never shown a sign of delamination.
I’ll think about what I would do if the repair problem were mine.