Hello, I own a perception touring kayak that has sustained a dent in the bottom side. Any advice on how to get the hull to regain its original shape? Thanks.
lay it out in the sun
that will normally pop a “oil can” dent or minor regular dent out.
how severe is it?
take a hair dryer to it
not uncommon in plastic boats. give it the ‘hair dryer’ treatment and then leave it out in the sun for a few days. after the dent reverts (assuming it does) don’t tie it down to a bar rack with such force or better yet, get a rack that cradles it rather than putting pressure on a single point.
It will help to rig something to block
or push the dent back into the original position, and THEN put it out in the sun. My dent was just a little forward of the seat on a plastic sea kayak, and I cut a piece of minicell foam to wedge between the front of the cockpit and the bottom of the boat. The dent returned to normal, and now I sometimes use the same piece of minicell as a forward wall when I am tying the boat on the rack. This helps keep the dent from getting started again. Best solution is to carry the kayak inverted or on its edge.
dents in plastic
thanks for all the advice. I have cut a block of wood to fit the interior dimension. This is caped off with some cloth to avoid scratching and has pushed the dent out. Hopefully the sun will do its trick now.
Heat lamp
My brother recently purchased a 14’ poly kayak that had an oilcan dent in the keel just ahead of the seat. Basically, he set the boat upright with a sawhorse directly beneath each bulkhead, laid a towel inside the cockpit atop the dent, set a couple of bricks on the towel, and put a halogen work light under the boat. Moved the light around every few minutes or so, and the dent came right out as advertised. He also heated up the surrounding area in case it had any stresses that needed relief.
Then he went paddling to relieve his own stresses …