Gouged out RoyalEx help wanted.

Advice
#1

Yeah I know im the one who ususally says “who cares” are scrathes…which is still true…But just did the first permited run down the Smith River in Montana last week and hit more rocks than all the rivers my entire life combined…NO LIE!!! My MR Explorer went from looking fairly new to one that looks 75 years old. I wore thru the red outter layer to the gray inner layer but NOT to the core of royalex…Any suggestions on the big deep chucks and or covering the gray? Paint? Bondo?

thanks

ps…the smith was awesome…at 145cfs it was one of the most technical rivers ive been on…thousands of expossed rocks.

#2

pandoras box
okay, click on the link in this link

http://www.npmb.com/cms2/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?97767

which will take you to more links. Read them all, memorize the key areas, and become a royalex repair zen master.

#3

Quik Plastik
I use Quik Plastik. It’s a plastic repair putty that comes in a stick, You cut a small piece and Knead it like bread. The hardener is in the center. It works great for me on my Royalex LT Cronje. Just google it and you’ll find a dealer. It’s made by Polymeric Systems Inc. I think. Good Luck!

#4

On a related topic, if possible, don’t
run even small, tight streams at only 145 cfs. Yes, there are a few that can be run at such a level without much scraping and banging. But my minimum for small streams is usually about 250 cfs, and 300 is better.



I remember a friend paddling an Explorer down the upper Conasauga in Georgia at what must have been about 250 cfs. He did quite well, considering. The rest of us were in decked boats, c-1s.

#5

standard
for the smith river its standard minimum to run with canoes at 150 its in all the guidebooks, permit info etc etc. It was the weight that was the problem. Had we not had heavy gear/good food/5 cases of beer etc we would not really have hit anything. Its a drop-pool river…so the shallow v-cuts are common to drag the boat with a couple inches of water.

#6

Epoxy
I’ve repaired gouges in Royalex boats with thickened epoxy, and they’ve held up well.

#7

ShoeGoo is still holdin on our Penobscot
kids have given it much character…you can use Krylon vinyl spray paint over the patch. A much nicer fix is a Royalex repair kit.