Thanks for the replys
No this post was not a troll. As i stated this is the first composite boat i’ve owned. Didnot know what to expect. My system for transport is two wooden cradles on roof racks of truck cap spaced approx. 6 feet apart. Cradles are lined with 1" - 1 1/2" thick minicell foam. Use 1" nylon straps for tiedown. The front tiedown falls just behind the front hatch cover and the rear falls just in front of the rear hatch cover. Same tiedown system i’ve used for my plastic boats for years. No problem.
Guess i’ll just have to be a little more carefull.
Damage seems to be only in the outter jelcoat. Boat was received in perfect condition so it had to be something i did. Live and learn i guess.
Thanks again for the replys.
My two cents…
I’ve got to agree with the majority here. I’ve owned a kevlar 500 and presently own a kevlar 700 and in no way would I classify either one of the layups as “fragile”.
Each boat has been through its share of unintentional rough treatment, and much to my surprise, there were no chips or cracks in the gelcoat or beyond. Most notable was a person who was helping me lift my 500 on to the rack on top of the truck and dropped the front of the boat onto a Yakima crossbar. I was expecting at best a crunched “plumb bow” but we couldn’t even find where it hit.
I’ve got to agree with greyak that bassman’s crack, if it indeed was caused by overtightened straps, is no more QCC’s fault than the scratches I put on the top and side of my 700 when it slid off of a pile of oyster shells and flipped upside down two weeks ago on a coastal SC paddle.
TrippS
Nylon tiedowns
are a bit of a mixed blessing. Especially if you cushion your cradles a lot. Boat is nicely cushioned on the impacts but then feels a pretty harsh upward restraint against the tiedowns.
I tow my boat on a rough-riding lightweight trailer (Trailex SUT-200). After every trip there were chafing marks on the deck where the tiedowns were, I could see them rubbing completely through the gelcoat eventually, and could just imagine what the boat was feeling. I’ve since gone to bungees, despite the usual advice that they are insufficient for something like this. I use two each front and rear for redundancy, the boat is well-cradled, the cradles are widely spaced, and I use snubbing lines to keep it from sliding lengthwise. No more chafing marks, and I never have to worry about tiedown straps loosening, which they often like to do.
Mike
Gel crack?
Heck, my 400 was about four months old when I slipped on ice carring it up a concrete ramp and dropped it. Temp was in the high 20’s. knocked a chip of gelcoat the size of a quarter out of it.
Called Phil to ask how I should repair it. Not only did he explain the repair process, QCC even sent me the gelcoat for the repair at no charge. Now I call that customer service, even when it was the customers fault!
Also own a 700 and I don’t baby either one, no problems with construction on either. Well built and both are great designs.
Sorry to keep at this…
…, but curious. Wooden cradles could mean a lot of things. Could be great - or not.
Hard cradles, even padded, could be another problem. Potential to focus stress. You can do almost anything with plastic kayaks and get away with it, but as the boat price creeps up, rack construction/design becomes more important. What looks good may not be. What works for composite hulls will work for plastic - but the reverse may not.
Are you carrying right side up, upside down, or on side? (Needs to be considered in context of cradle design - all can be OK depending on setup).
I think you should just go paddle it
That said I’m kind of fussy too and don’t like gelcoat cracks so rather than bug QCC just read up on how to do a gelcoat repair yourself.It’s an interesting learning process and if you’re an avid paddler then it won’t be the first time your kayak will need some maintenance.
If you have a heated workshop,go for it.
Cheers
Bert
I found some to…
While caressing the bottom of my kevlar 600 a few weeks ago (come on, I know I am not the only one who likes to run their hands down the bottom of their boats) I came across a very faint spyder crack along the left rear chine area at an area that was about 4"-6" behind the rear bulkhead. Now I bought my 600 used this spring, but it was in near perfect condition when I got it & had not seen this gelcoat crack before. From 5’ away ya can’t see anything wrong with the gelcoat, but like I said, if one were to run their hands along the side of the yak, ya could see & feel the area which is maybe 1/2"W by 4"L.
Have no idea how long/when/how this very slight crack developed. I do load my 600 in the back of my full size p/u truck with the door down & I use an Extend-A-Truck load support arm. Well the cushioned support arm comes very close to this area, so it might have something to do with it. But, since the crack has not gotten any larger over the past few months, I just take the attitude that it is just a beauty mark & now I choose not to inspect/caress that side of my boat.
Get over it
Spend $ 10 bucks on some fibreglass putty, patch it and stop worrying about the looks, enjoy it.
Brian
I hope I live
long enough to wear the gelcoat off my boats.
If I do it’ll give me a restoration job to do.
Paddle on.
Bert
Crack in the cold
Maybe the kayak had some water in it that froze, then cracked as the hull or deck got flexed a bit during loading/strapping.
Wood and foam cradles
Sounds similar to what I use to carry my wood kayak, except I installed much thinner (3/8", I think) minicell for the padding. I wonder if too thick a foam might contribute to flexing problems, because you need to tie the straps down more tightly.
I use similar strap placement also: front strap just behind the front hatch (about over the bulkhead though a S&G boat does not require this as a plastic one does), and rear strap just in front of the rear hatch.
I tighten the straps just enough so that I cannot lift the bow or stern end up. The cradles have angled slabs with a gap at the bottom so that the hull’s V never sits directly on anything. Pressure is spread over the generous spread of the angled slabs instead.
Did you make the cradles for the QCC specifically? I wonder if maybe the fit is off.
The same philosophy preserved my
marriage. Also, as I get older, my eyesight no longer enables me to see whatever little flaws have appeared on my wife’s exterior. For some reason, my sense of touch does not seem so critical.
Elephant in the living room
In the last ten years, the rack company that I work for has seen this stress cracking problem with lots of kevlar boats.
It is not a QCC problem.
Our findings have concluded that the failure results from the following:
- The use of a static metal roof rack (padded or no) that lacks the ability to flex.
- Used witht a composite layup boat which by nature of the construction is vulnerable to shear force hull failure (stress cracking)
- Experiencing heavy or modulating cross winds while in transport.
Like it or not, your rolling the dice everytime you clamp these boats down and take off down the highway with the above conditions present.
I knew there was a reason…
… that I love the soft and flexible Saris saddles. Odd looking maybe, but super easy on the hulls.
STILL not the boats or racks fault.
my system
The secret to composite is a wide span on saddles with straps looped around. 1000’s of miles with just a bungee cord in front. My 21 ft graphite t-bolt weighs 25 # and is rugged but was never intended to be a chin up bar.