HI
I have a scott Wilderness Kevlar Canoe and some crack are starting to appear in the ribs on the inside of the canoe. Does anybody know how to repair this before it gets too bad and what type of equipment I need to do the repairs.
Thanks
Repair
It depends on how it was finished. If the boat was gel coated on the inside, the cracks could be just gel coat cracks–nothing serious. If the cracks are in the Glass/kevlar then you might need to add a layer of glass to reinforce. Rather than try and explain the procedure. Go to a good book store or marine chandler(West Marine, etc.) and pick up a book on fiberglass repair. The ones by Don Casey are very good and are clear in their explanations. Repairing glass/kevlar is not hard but it needs to be done properly.
This is not so bad
If i follow you correctly, the ribs which are laid over patches of matt and a core of foam, are cracking. Are they coming loose from the hull itself? Or are the ribs themselves cracking and they are still bonded to the hull?
If the ribs are intact and just coming loose from the hull, you can apply patches of cloth and resin over the ribs and extending out several inches onto the hull. This is a very common separation in hulls where the interior is cloth matt laid over the ribs. The matt material does not spread the forces out over the hull like a cloth interior layer.
If the ribs themselves are cracking you will need to reinforce the rib area, either with multiple layers of cloth or with a new core material for the rib, this could be much more involved, and should be assessed by someone familar with composite repairs.
Most of the Scott canoes i have seen are not entirely Kevlar, the interiors are usually fiberglass and easy to repair.
Bill
try NoahsMarine forum as well…