Hey folks, first time here. I bought an Aquaglide Chelan Two seven years ago and have such a great time with it. Sadly on this last vacation the floor of the kayak sprung a leak. The leak is at the seam of the air receptacle where the air hose attaches. Aquaglide sadly does not sell replacement parts for this boat. I’m looking for some suggestions… does anyone out there have a Chelan two floor for sale maybe? Should I feel cheated that this incredible boat only lasted seven years? Maybe someone can suggest the best way to patch it up…. Thanks in advance.
Can you post close up shots of the damaged area? I have paddled folding kayaks with inflatable components for many years and have done some patching. Might be able to recommend something if I can see what you are dealing with. You can get replacement valves for them from diypackrafts.com depending on which kind you have. I recommend gluing the new valve onto a scrap of vinyl (like the patches in the repair kits sold for inflatable boats) and then cutting away the damaged valve and gluing the patch with the new valve over the area. But until i see where and how you have the failure, I can’t really suggest the right repair.
Honestly, 7 years is not bad if you have gotten a lot of use out of it.
Will get you a picture tomorrow… thanks so much for the response.
Here’s a picture of where the leak is… I was able to get a great deal on a new Chelan 155 but now I have a really nice kayak with a tiny leak that renders it unusable… any thoughts?
Have you been able to inflate it partially and submerge it in water (like a half filled bathtub or pool)? By pressing on it you should be able to see exactly where the bubbles are escaping. If the leakage is around the patch that the valve is embedded in, you may be able to patch it with a thick layer of AquaSeal. If it seems to be the valve itself, you have nothing to lose by getting a Boston valve, gluing it into a vinyl or PVC scrap or patch, then carefully cutting out the valve and gluing the new valve over the opening with vinyl repair glue.
Thanks so much for this info…. Sadly, I’m not at all handy with this kind of thing. Can you suggest the kind of pro that might be able to handle this? I’d make a royal mess out of this.
Took a closer look. I can do this…. Just bought a tube of aqua seal on Amazon.
This is why vitually every inflatable boat (and cheap air mattress) comes with a complete patch kit, including patch material and glue and sometimes a sanding or filing patch. You do need to learn to do this if you plan to regularly used an inflatable so you are prepared if you puncture it while out on a trip. It really is not that hard, so don’t dread it. I honestly don’t know any “pro” that would offer this kind of thing, since it is the sort of thing most people can do themselves. Doesn’t have to be pretty – I have sloppy patches on several of my boats that allow them to function perfectly.
I hear ya man…. I’m not completely helpless but I do have to step up my game…. Patching the leak hasn’t really been the big problem. Finding the leak has been a bitch however. I took the floor to a tire shop and they submersed it and found something and probably put some epoxy type glue over it. I got another two days of paddling but then the floor started leaking again. My plan now is to use the aqua seal around the circumference of the valve and if it holds I’ll sell the boat for cheap. My new Chelan 155 will be two feet longer so all in all I think I’ll be happier anyway. I would like to be able to sell the other one though…. Thanks again for all of your help.
Use a high-quality PVC repair kit to patch the seam. If that doesn’t work, contact local kayak repair shops or search online marketplaces for used parts. Seven years is a reasonable lifespan for inflatable kayaks, but frustration is understandable.
The Chelan 155 is supposed to come with a patch kit. I would use that to try to patch the older boat.
Aquaseal is good at patching water leaks, but may not work for air leaks, which are higher pressure.
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Peter has a good point. The benefit of gluing a patch over a leak is that the adhesives for vinyl and PVC (like H-66) have solvents that essentially melt the two surfaces together, providing a more pressure resistant repair than just applying the Aquaseal. The patch also protects from having anything abrade the repair. I have scraped off old layers of Aquaseal (like on the sewn seams of my SOF kayak) but there is no way I could remove the glued on patches and rub strips that are on the rubberized hulls of my folding kayaks.