Dry spray skirt?

I have two sprayskirts that I use on my ww boats that work well. I have just started doing some touring and I use these same skirts on my arluk IV. The skirts seem to fit tight but I use a gp and I guess the constant drip seeps through the neoprene and my pants are wet after a couple of hrs. What skirt would be dry and fit my boat? any ideas appreciated.

mountain surf dur-o-ring…
is the dryest skirt I’ve had so far. I’d suggest you get the EZ-on version since the bomber fit one is ridiculously tight. Currently I use a homemade tuilik or an akuilisaq for greenland style touring and a snapdragon for whitewater, but if dry was what I’m looking for, definitely Mountain Surf.

Just for touring?
If all you’re interested in is keeping out paddle drips, go with a coated nylon skirt. Otherwise, what Schizopak said. I’ve never had a skirt that was completely dry, but that isn’t usually an issue since I usually plan on getting at least a little damp.



-rs

try neoprene pants

Neoprene doesn’t leak
More than likely you are experiencing the same thing I do, condensation! I see it the most in cold temps with a warm body in a closed in cold kayak interior, sitting in cold water… but it occurs even in summer. A good test is to check the underside of the forward deck by your knees with a swipe of your hand after you paddle in the same conditions rendering your pants wet. Is it wet also? More than likely it will be also from the same culprit, condensation. My pants are ALWAYS wet from condensation after a while. I’d bet condensation is your issue and your neoprene skirt IS dry. I made the mistake years ago by calling Snap Dragon and telling them their neoprene skirts sucked, because they leaked all over my pants to the point of saturation. The woman calmly informed me neoprene doesn’t leak, and advised I try the same test I just mentioned above. She was correct.

Is the skirt leaking or the boat?
I thought water was coming in through my skirt, but discovered I had a small crack around the coaming that was letting water in. As a temporary fix, I put some aquaseal in the crack and it stopped leaking. Take a good look at your boat. Sometimes small cracks are difficult to see.

Neoprene doesn’t leak?

– Last Updated: Feb-27-08 11:59 AM EST –

Guess I've been wrong all these years. I have several and they all become saturated after a couple of hours (or less) using a GP. Not a problem in the summer but it's one more reason why to wear a drysuit in the winter months. I wear a pair of splash pants in the shoulder seasons.
And no it's not condensation, the underside of my foredeck is dry, also because of the tunnel location, there is a wrinkle behind the seat and water pools there and penetrates the neoprene. Snapdragon gave me the same speil but I'm not buying it.

Was the outer fabric ‘skin’

– Last Updated: Feb-27-08 12:49 PM EST –

laminated on your skirt saturated? Doesn't mean the neoprene is saturated or is leaking, or that condensation isn't occuring. Do Chota boots get 'saturated' and leak after wearing them in h2o? Do neoprene paddle gloves leak after hours of use with glued seams? You telling me a kayak will have H2o in it after travelling through, or sitting on a car top in the rain for days with a properly fitting neoprene cockpit cover??? It has NEVER happened to me and my boat has sat for weeks in the yard with a big puddle of h2o formed on the cover after a good rain! Neoprene doesn't leak, but a neoprene skirt w/unglued or taped seams, or likewise a poorly sealed seam, whether it's glued or taped, will. Or a neoprene skirt with an ill-fitting cockpit rand will, but the neoprene material itself won't. Being a shop owner, I might suggest that you send your skirt back to the manufacturer with a letter, and have them inspect it. A PROPERLY sealed neoprene skirt should not leak, and you are implying it leaks in the vicinity of the tube/deck seam junction, correct?

Another spot that may leak is the glue
joint where the skirt tunnel meets the deck. One can try infusing SeamGrip all around the joint. It is fairly thin and penetrating, and stays flexible.

Maybe a seam?
Not seeing the posters skirt, does it have a sewn seam? Maybe the seam is leaking? You’re right, neoprene is 100% waterproof unless it has a fissure.



If the skirt has a sewn seam, just coat it with aquaseal.

Neoprene
Take your spray skirt and hang it over a bucket and fill an indentation with water. If it leaks it has a hole. But neoprene does not become saturated or allow water to pass through it. You can research this on line but trust me, it doesn’t leak water unless it has a hole or crack of some type.

Not in my experience
Since the problem occurs on both of my NDK boats (Romany & Explorer [2])I am pretty sure it’s the skirts.(plural) One is an Ocean Trek and the other an Ocean Tour EXP. The tunnel location in respect to the seat location creates the deep wrinkle and water dripping from the paddle runs back and pools there. After a short while, I can feel the water running down into the seat. The Ocean Tour did it from day one as it was new last spring and was bought to aleviate the problem as the former skirt was 3-4 years old.

Just my experience. My neoprene boots don’t leak but then they are only in the water for a few minutes while entering and exiting the boat.

Then you have 2 defectively sealed
sprayskirts and you need to send 'em back for inspection, as I mentioned to ‘padlnrun’ above. Neoprene is WATERPROOF, bad seams are not.

I agree with Schizopak
There is nothing like a randed spray deck. I won’t waste my time with bungies anymore since owning the Mtn Sf.



Dogmaticus

they may not be defective
Not all companies bother to seal the seams on skirts. I’ve got two older style WW skirts that have sewn reinforcement of the tunnel/deck junction, and they leak like sieves at that seam. No surprise, since the factory didn’t bother to do any sort of sealing on the thread holes.



Newer skirts often use glue and taping, so are more likely not to leak. My cheapo, first generation IR bungee skirt (glued and taped seams) is bone dry.

The Snap Dragon skirts mentioned

– Last Updated: Feb-29-08 11:17 AM EST –

by 'okole' have been factory sealed for years. His seams are defective or have a small hole, or the H2o is entering at the coming/rand seal or down the rear of the tube. I might also interject that the boats he listed are NDK's, which have a somewhat harder coming to fit than most. I know my Valley Pintail, being a similar coming shape, doesn't have a very good fit with the stock medium Snap Dragon skirt. It is somewhat baggy/loose on the forward sides where the coming kinda tucks in/straightens out. I've taken an outline of the coming and will soon be ordering a custom skirt from Snap Dragon w/it. I know I've had a bit of leakage with the standard medium skirt they suggested in their fit list. And yes, the H2o will appear to be dripping in from the center of the skirt as that area sits lower than the coming.