My kayak blew into the water while I was gone from our cabin and a beaver chewed three small holes in it. Any way to repair it so I can still use it? The holes are at the bottom of the hull.
Plastic welding
Plastic welding may work. You can get the tool and plastic from many places.
That said, if your boat is older and the plastic has aged (lots of time in the sun does this), the plastic welding fix may not hold well.
poly and welding
The only plastic welding that is reliable for kayaks is on prijon kayaks, different plastic. You “might” have luck with G3 epoxy from West Epoxy. They’ve got online vids about it’s use.
Bill H.
repairing polyethylene
Any single-layer kayak or canoe made out of linear polyethylene can potentially be thermal welded.
Cross-link polyethylene cannot be thermally welded. The great majority of single-layer poly boats are linear polyethylene, but a few older ones could be cross-link.
If the holes are very small, you may be able to close them up with thermal welding. You will need some linear polyethylene repair rod to melt material into the holes. Harbor Freight makes an inexpensive thermal welder, basically like a soldering iron with a spade tip.
If the holes are larger, you will probably need to use West System G Flex epoxy and fiberglass cloth. The poly surface must be pre-treated by flame oxidizing it with a hand-held propane torch before applying the epoxy or you won’t get a satisfactory bond.
Repair
Clean out the damaged area well. Make sure it’s dry. Then fill the holes with 3M 5200 sealer. It’s a very strong adhesive.