Reinforcing Bulkheads

Advice
#1

Most of my life I have lived around, and owned much wider boats. I usually found them to be big holes in the water into which you pour money…lots of it. I certainly wish I would have discovered my love for kayaking sooner in my life. After two years of trying out boats,(both rental and demos) I settled on a Tsunami 145. Like many of you, I have spent waaaayyyy too much time on this site. One criticism was the fact that the bulkheads are not “poly” reinforced. I called WS and told them that I was thinking of reinforcing the bulkheads with lucite. They didn’t know what lucite was…However, they did say it wasn’t necessary to reinforce the bulkheads, but they “might move around” from time to time.

Thoughts please.

Thanks,

David

#2

If they are not leaking, why do anything
to them ?

If they are leaking, just clean around the edges with acetone, and reseal them with Lexel.



Jack L

#3

This might fall in the category of the
old Yankee rule - “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Every single time I have violated that rule I have lived to regret it.

#4

lucite.
Unnecessary weight. It’s a pretty heavy plastic, that will leak as much as the foam bulkhead will from time to time.



Ryan L.

#5

what problem are you trying to solve?

#6

Had a problem with a bulkhead last year
We taped it with Hippo Patch and it has not moved or leaked since then. I might use something different next time but the Hippo Patch was there, it worked, and it is permanent and very hard to remove.

#7

“If it ain’t broke”…
“Don’t fix it” seems to always work, except for airplanes and boats. I was concerned when I called the Wilderness factory and was told, “Well, yeah the bulkheads could move around a little.” I thought, “Naaaaa, I really don’t want to be trying to climb back into a flooded boat and say…boats full of water and the bulkhead has decided to do the Soupy Shuffle.”

I’d like to avoid that.

Anyone tried non expanding “Great Stuff”?

#8

uh huh
So the person you spoke with was a boat designer? Naval architect? Or just whoever picks up the phone?

#9

G/Flex Epoxy
When you buy the kayak mark where the bulkheads are (trace with a permanent marker), remove the bulkheads, and “re-glue” them with G/Flex epoxy.



I found this to be the best way to fix leaking bulkheads, especially on Wilderness System kayaks. You can always add a bead of Lexal after the G/Flex cures.