Considering putting one on my Kayak. Have worked with glass and epoxies, but assume I don’t want to use glass tape because it will most likely bunch or bubble has it rounds up to the bow and stern. Suggestion on materials, ideas or techniques?
great advice at
atlantickayaktours.com
Go to the expert center and look under keel strip repair. It’s all spelled out, with shopping lists.
Lyn
Article in Sea Kayaker …
http://www.seakayakermag.com/2004/Oct04/KeelStrip01.htm
I combined info from this article, the above mentioned site and experience working with glass and did my own.
On a recent trip, I’m pretty sure that the tape helped reinforce the hull just a bit and may have kept the hull from more damage than what occured when surf brought myself, boat and rock into contact. The keel strip was destroyed in the process with damage through to the diolene. The inner layer of diolene held–I’m repairing that as I write this–but the chopped strand mat took a big hit.
The 2" glass tape worked fine at the ends of my boat. If you can do the portion aft of the skeg separately so that you aren’t trying to get the tape to lay down as the resin kicks at both ends of the boat, that might be helpful. You do have to stay on top (read hovering–but sounds like you’re aware of this) of the tape ends as the resin kicks to get the ends to stick.
I was surprised how easily the keel strip was worn through dragging a fully loaded boat just a few feet over wet sand getting away from the surf. A few times of this and the wear area went right through the tape. Good thing I know how to fix it. Kevlar or diolene tape may be the way to go. I think they use diolene in the UK for this purpose. I think there are some other tricks to extend the life of a keep strip, but they are so easy to do and repair using polyester resin and fg tape, I’m not sure all the gyrations using other materials to help it wear better are worth it.
Good luck.