I have noticed a lot of used Hurricane Santee kayaks for sale lately that have had to be repaired, some of them are pretty significant. Are these kayaks not very durable?
Here is a picture of one that was repaired. Could this be repaired better than this? Would it hold up in the long run?
Looks like sloppy repair work which didn’t follow Hurricane’s repair instructions. I wonder what that piece of wood under the cockpit coaming is for, and how the damage happened.
A local shop sells Hurricane kayaks. I find their ABS is thin compared to Eddyline’s.
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Maybe that kayak was dropped or fell from a decent height and landed on the cockpit rim?
Having also had Wilderness Systems ABS kayaks start to come apart I think the only thermoformed boat I’d even consider would be an Eddyline.
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I’ve been reading reviews at many websites, and it seems they crack fairly easily! The guy who has it seems to not want to tell me what happened to it. I think I’ll stick with my reliable Pelicans and my old Perception Swiftys!
One young lady that I know has one. The hull has separated on it three times. Each time was covered by a warranty and she got loaner boats, but she says she won’t buy another.
The problem with fixing one is that not many glues will stick to the plastic. That is probably why a whole package of pop rivets was also used.
The thermoformed plastic makes a more rigid hull than most rotomolded boats, but it is brittle and needs a soft touch. If I wanted a thermo formed boat, it would probably be an Eddyline.
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If you zoom up the image you’ll see that the repair wasn’t made with pop rivets but with small screws (or bolts) with different heads! I wonder what it’s like underneath - more wood? I hope whoever made this mess doesn’t consider themselves a “professional”!
Our WS boats started to crack at the chines, and separate at the hull to deck joints - from normal use - after just under a year. To give WS their due they agreed to a credit for the full purchase price with the paddle shop. We put it towards two Current Designs fiberglass boats.
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That looks like the kind of repair I might do in the middle of a trip just to get myself home. That is, if I had some silicone and wood screws…
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Looks like someone fell on the edge of the cockpit getting in or out of the boat. Hope this is a temporary emergency repair.
My family has a Hurricane that we’ve been quite happy with, but about a year ago we noticed a crack forming where the coaming meets the deck. I know exactly why it happened - it’s on the stress point where we pick it up if we’re carrying it solo. It wasn’t a hard thing to patch, but considering the weight of this boat and the ability to carry it solo was the primary selling point, it was a little frustrating. Anyway, boat is perfectly seaworthy after the patch and now we know how to do these in the future, so I’m not too concerned.
I cringe when folks show up for a pool session or class with a Hurricane. Luckily the only Santee in class the past few years did not break. I think every Tracer (either 4 of 4 or 5 of 5) in a pool session or class has broken the cockpit similarly to the Santee photo posted and one of those was another instructor in his new “light” kayak.