I returned from paddling this past weekend from a state park about 100 miles away. It was hot; 95 degrees plus. I got home and tweaked my back while moving some coolers, so I didn't take my boat off my roof rack until today (4days). After I put my boat in the garage, I noticed 2 indentations where my boat sat on the holy rollers (my boat is a fiberglass Impex Montauk). I didn't think it was tightened too hard; I don't cinch my straps down "hard". Will these indentations go away with time or is there something I should do? Is this something to worry about and try and fix, or is it merely cosmetic? Thanks in advance for any and all advice
Very unusual for a fiberglass boat to “dent” from heat and pressure. Was it the hull or the deck? I’d advise contacting the dealer and the factory.
You can make a short vertical foam “wall” and push it in from inside, and put the boat in the sun to see if the composite layup will return to original contour.
Not uncommon with some racks/cradles. I’ve been carrying my composite sea kayaks on 22" wide foam kayak blocks and every one of them has incurred slight indentations because those blocks don’t put the pressure at the strongest part of the hull. Mine haven’t gone away.
Especially for longer boats, I always prefer transporting on edge on nice wide, soft supports. The same goes for storage. I am also a trailer advocate.
Hully Rollers didn’t work for me Had serious issues with them on all my kayaks both poly and composite. And yes I strap everything really tight. Have had good luck with Thule Hullaprts and also really thick foam blocks that fit over my load bars.
maybe you should strap everything tight The standard wisdom is to not. Since that’s the common denominator, maybe you should loosen 'em up a bit. The boat’s not going anywhere.
did that once too… to a PH Orion years and years ago while it was strapped to the roof at work awaiting my after work paddle. HOT day, strapped down and baked a coupla nice divots right into her! the horror!
brought her to the shop - he cut em out, laid the new glass in, gelled it and bob’s your uncle and he owed the boat shop $100 or so.
since then, i’ve been really, really careful to NOT ratchet those straps down to a million or so while traveling and to take all the pressure off if the boat is just sitting on the roof in the parking lot at work awaiting my after work hoot-n-nannies.
Opportunity for the boat makers Perhaps one day one of the manufacturers will come up with a safe tie down system that eliminates the need to encircle and stress the hull with a strap or rope.
Interesting but not convincing. I have both vinylester and epoxy boats. I have not seen denting from fairly hard tie downs with either resin. Maybe I’ve just been lucky. I’ve patched a lot with West epoxy and have also patched with vinylester. Haven’t noticed my epoxy patches getting softer in heat.
I’ve been all around the internet arguing with Salty about Kevlar in layups. I’ve seen a lot of literature on epoxy, some on vinylester, and haven’t seen anyone showing concern about epoxy softening more readily.
You mention high end sea kayaks using epoxy resin. That’s so rare, I can’t think of examples. Even in canoe circles, epoxy use has been associated mainly with whitewater slalom boat builders. My Dagger and my Bluewater are both heat-cured epoxy. My Millbrooks, my Phoenix, and my Noah are all vinylester.
I would just say that while this business of denting boats deserves an explanation, we shouldn’t be too quick in selecting one without having some boat builders come clean about their resin mix and their cloth layup schedule. We don’t want to start suburban myths, like the one about Kevlar soaking water through the hull and delaminating.