I got myself a used CD Extreme and it has a small crack in the deck. I was wondering if there is a “best” way to fix this? It doesn’t go through, it is just the top. I have a few ideas in my head but wanted to get feed back first. It does flex just a smidge, if I push down on it I can see the crack close up a bit. I honestly thought it was a piece of hair when I first saw it and tried to brush it away. You can see it in the lower center of the picture.
Thanks for any input!
I am having a slow morning and can’t tell. What is the layup on this boat- gel coat over fiberglass? As to the flex, CD and most N American boats are not stiffened on the front deck. Some flex is not unusual.
It is Gel Coat, I would like to just patch it or something rather than take it in and have it repaired. If it is better to just have a gel coat pro fix it I can do that.
Current Designs sells a gel coat repair kit and you have a good chance of getting a perfect color match.
If it is just gel coat the only guestion mark is how much you care about the color match. Basic gel coat repair is easy, the color match takes more patience. Or you could stick tenacious tape over it for the rest of this season.That will make sure water does not get in, and think bout it as a winter project.
The photo does suggest a fine crack in the gel coat but a crack like this may have resulted from an impact that has caused more significant damage to the structural fabrics beneath it. Gel coat is a polyester material that looks nice and presents a smooth surface but really contributes little, if anything, to the overall strength of the layup. Whether you try to repair the gel coat crack or not is really a question of cosmetics. Doing so will not make the boat stronger.
Frankly, I would leave the gel coat crack alone as I think any repair you do at this point will be far more noticeable than the crack itself. If you have reason to believe that water is getting under the gel coat and causing it to delaminate from the hull you could repair it later. But I have canoes that have had cracks in the gel coat since the early 1990s that have not gotten any worse.
What I would do is take a look inside the cockpit at the area beneath the gel coat crack if you have not already done so. Use a headlamp. If you can’t get your head far enough in to see well, use a mirror. Assuming the deck fabric to be Kevlar, check for damage immediately beneath the gel coat crack. Aramid fibers have great tensile strength that usually exceeds the strength of their bond to the resin. So aramid fibers often do not fracture, but simply disassociate from the resin matrix when severely stressed by an impact. This will show up as a white line that corresponds to the fibers that have broken out of the resin matrix.
If you see evidence of internal damage and you feel that the damaged area has more give than the deck on the opposite side, I would simply apply a patch of 5 ounce/square yard Kevlar (or some other aramid fabric) to the underside of the deck with epoxy. This is not difficult to do but if you don’t have the materials or feel inclined to do this, I would look around in your area for someone who does.
What year is it? It was hit or dropped on its side. You need to stiffen the area below. Get some West Sytems epoxy and some glass cloth. Sand inside to rough it up not so much that Kevlar fuzzes. Use 80 or 100 grit by hand. Cut three layers of glass material you chose. Pass the crack by 1" all around then 2" then 3". Turn hull by hanging it upside down to apply glass easy. After you apply the glass and epoxy. Put pressure on outside of hull to close crack until it sets. May be 2x8 leaning on it with some weight on it 90° off hull. Try something before you glass the hull a few times. You’ll see it close like when you press on it. Use some polyethylene plastic on inside to make patch smooth or peelply.
If it’s prior to CD moving to USA (2002?) they can’t match the gelcoat there are no records. If they can it will be better to leave it alone and let it look like a hair or less on deck.
Great kayak I have two reg and HV. I moved my seats back for easier entry and it makes a huge difference. I also installed wide base seats in mine. I’m 6’ 225-230 lb.
Could also take a ratchet strap or rope around hull and snug it over something later keep a tennis ball to make a pressure point to close the crack or a piece of wood. Leave it so you see ends of crack closing.
T_ _ _ _ _
Don’t mention it.
I’m with Pblanc; unless you’re looking for experience making gelcoat repairs and are prepared to deal with a less-than-perfect color match, leave it alone. Even if you can get the original color gelcoat, it will not match the sun-faded gelcoat on the boat. Unless there is structural damage that needs repair, all you’d be doing is opening a can of worms.
I’m pretty much in agreement with the advice to leave it alone unless there’s structural damage. One product you might consider is something called Capt. Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure. I had it in the repair kit for a power boat I used to have. It was simple to use & worked ok. Available at West Marine, et al.
Okay, here’s something I just thought of that might fix it if it is just what it looks like–a very minor little crack in the gel coat. Wet a soft rag with acetone and rub it back and forth on the crack. There is a chance that the gel coat might uncure , become sticky and rebond. I was messing around with cleaning some stains off a couple of places and nothing seemed to touch it until I tried acetone. That took the stains off immediately and the resin became kind of sticky. Of course the stickiness went away almost as quick as it dried. I always use acetone to clean any area of repair, just before applying the patch, or gel coat. Besides cleaning the area of anything prior to the repair, it is supposed to cause the old surface to reactivate and bond with the new resin, or gel coat.
If it doesn’t work, you’ve lost nothing.
@bnystrom said:
I’m with Pblanc; unless you’re looking for experience making gelcoat repairs and are prepared to deal with a less-than-perfect color match, leave it alone. Even if you can get the original color gelcoat, it will not match the sun-faded gelcoat on the boat. Unless there is structural damage that needs repair, all you’d be doing is opening a can of worms.
Agree… It looks like scuff marks around the crack any flexing can cause cracks in the gel. I would do nothing unless things get worse.
If the gel cracked the glass was flexed to a point where it was weakened. So if you leave it without stiffening the back it’s more likely to flex and do more gelcoat damage if flexed again.
Go paddling. Fix it if water starts coming in, or it’s getting significantly worse.
Why not spend 30 minutes to reinforce it before you need gelcoat work because it flexed more. Who paddles 24 x 7 anyway?
@PaddleDog52 said:
If the gel cracked the glass was flexed to a point where it was weakened.
Sorry, but this is complete nonsense. Cracks in gelcoat happen because gelcoat is less flexible than the underlying laminate. The thicker the gelcoat, the more likely it is to crack as the boat flexes. Unless you can see damage from underneath, such as white streaks in the glass that indicate delamination, there is no need to reinforce it.
I have the same boat (two) same cracks when it fell he has damage. He’ll have damage inside just like mine. Gelcoat on CD boats is not thick. It’s not nonsense.
