Frosted canoe

Hi,



I tried looking around a little for an answer, but didn’t find one. my eyes are killing me, so I thought I’d just post a new message. I saw an ad for a mad river explorer that the owner thinks is 15 feet and made of kevlar. The wood is shot completely. Gunwales and seat will need replacing. In the pic it’s full of leaves and water.



I wonder if it’s even worth it though. The hull has a frosted white appearance. This can’t be a good thing, but I wonder how much of a bad thing it is. Assuming I don’t see any cracks, it’s made after the 80s, and it flexes a little, think it would be safe? I’d be doing some paddling in penobscott bay, so I wouldn’t want it to fall apart on me. thanks.

You didn’t say the price
If it is a freebie, and you are handy, it could be a nice project and you could end up with a nice canoe.

If it is not free, I wouldn’t screw around with it.



jack L

Its not frosted its oxidized
gel coat most likely easily taken care of with rubbing compound and a rotary buffer.

There is a 15 foot Explorer, but were
any made in Kevlar? I thought they were offered only in Royalex.



An Explorer 15 is a nice pocket tandem and a good solo load carrier, but for serious tandem tripping, you would want an Explorer 16.



On the frosted appearance, if it is Royalex, the vinyl top layer, while sun resistant as plastics go, will get a whitish frost from sun. My 15+ year old MR Synergy looks frosted, on the end that sticks out of the carport and into the sun. There are products to renew vinyl that will clean up the appearance.



You really need to see the boat, not just the pictures.

reply
thanks for the responses thus far. i would certainly look at the boat prior to purchase. Does this oxidation happen with all gel coats, or only those left outdoors? is it necessarily indicative of damage, or is it just unsightly? can it be removed with something other than going at it with a polisher, like a power washer, dry ice blaster, etc.?