I love my Capella RM. It handles well, tracks great, the seat is super comfortable, and it comes alive in rough water. The one thing I don’t like is that the hull gets stained and marked up something awful. My Capella is a robin’s-egg blue color, and it shows every mark. The hull looks like it was used for shelter in a paint-ball competition.
Do other Capella RM owners have the same problem? Does anyone have any solutions for cleaning the hull or keeping it from staining so bad?
My theory is that it has to do with the roughness of the hull. On the top, the plastic is smooth along the edges, and that part of the hull doesn’t have any marks.
No one sees the marks
You boat looks great. I didn’t notice any marks. You are the only one looking that closely I think.
I had good luck using 303 to keep stains to a minimum on plastic boats. But as you can tell from my current plastic ride, I’ve given up on keeping off stains or scratches.
Same problem, no solution
Honestly though, when it’s in the water where it belongs - you can’t see a thing. I think when I was considering the Capella there was a discussion about the staining. Search might bring some suggestions.
Stained Capella RM
Had to drag mine thru the river scum and bank mud yesterday before car topping it home. Yep, hanging up there in the top of the garage it looks like it has stains on it. They really seem to show up on the bright yellow. Didn’t seem to paddle any different though. Just consider them “bumper stickers” of where you’ve been and the fun you’ve had. I do try to eliminate hitch hikers though.
John
What they said
My '05 Capella 160RM has some stains, but has no bearing on surface texture. Not even any scratches, so it’s just cosmetic. Wouldn’t worry ‘bout it. Go out n’ have fun.
Don
capella
I know the stains are no big deal, but I’m used to keeping my equipment looking nice. Fortunately, the stains don’t show when the kayak is in the water.
A lot of the marks are what I presume is rubber from the Yakima Hully-Rollers that I use on my truck rack. The hull has gray rubber marks all over it, and it looks like chewing gum.
Since part of the top of the hull is polished and smooth, I wonder if there is a way to polish/smooth the entire hull. That seems like it would make the surface less susceptible to marks, but I’m wondering if it would affect handling or performance. There are plenty of plastic kayaks with smooth surfaces, so I don’t see why it would matter.
The hully rollers…
…can be kept clean with terry cloth and a LITTLE BIT of lacquer thinner. The spots on the boat can also be removed with a LITTLE BIT of lacquer thinner…but only use it on the boat once…repetitive uses will turn the plastic chalky. After the initial lacquer thinner use on the hull, just use soapy water and a green scotch brite pad.