Yes! This thread has been a tremendous help. Disassembly is complete. BriGuy hadn’t posted his visegrip idea yet, but I was able to do what I needed so far with my copper pipe breaker bar clamped onto a ratchet. In fact, the extra reach I got was enough such that I could do the external unscrewing and the internal nut capture by myself. Reassembly will be trickier, but I am confident that some combination of the solutions above will get it done.
Now I just gotta finish the tedious buffing first. The previous owner really let the appearance of the gel coat go. Even with a buffer, it’s slow going.
You can speed up that process by judicious wet sanding. I don’t know how thick the gelcoat is on a Tempest or how bad the sun damage is on your boat, so I would be very conservative and start with 600 grit, then 1200 or 1500, before switching to rubbing compound and polishing compound. If you want to see an example of what’s possible, I have a tutorial on my website: https://briannystrom.com/kayaking/tutorials/gelcoat-restoration/
Good stuff. I had already seen your tutorial, so thanks for that. I opted to go straight to buffing because that was the stuff I already had on hand. It’s tedious mostly because I only have a couple pads in each weight and am spending a lot of time cleaning them when they get loaded up. Amazon is sending me a range of wet sanding supplies, but it’s taking them a while. Because of the lockdown here, getting things locally is tough right now.
I’d love to achieve the results you got, but not sure how thick the gelcoat on my Tempest actually is. The buffing gave a good result, certainly enough in normal times to satisfy my need for shine. But now that I am more or less stuck at home, maybe I’ll try the wet sanding just to have something to do.
As long as you’re conservative with your sanding, you should be OK. You can even start with a finer grit than I suggested, if you think it’s just minor surface oxidation that needs to be removed. Be careful around edges, as those are the places that you’re most likely to sand through. Use plenty of water to keep the paper clean, and you’ll find that it goes surprisingly quickly. I also recommend that all sanding be done by hand. Use the buffer only for polishing. As you saw, my deck was pretty badly damaged and I had a lot of work to do to fix it. Most boats won’t take as much effort.
This method worked for me when I built a S&G kayak and had to work on some parts of the boat that I couldn’t otherwise reach.
Another tip I discovered during the build process: Start using your nondominant hand! I was pleasantly surprised that it is possible to gain more proficiency with it just from using it more. This, too, allows more access to places you couldn’t reach with your dominant side. Applies equally to working under your car!
I’m thinking about it. In better times, the finish I got with the buffer would be fine and the hazed spots and fine scratches remaining would just be the signs of a boat well loved. I’d slap the new deck rigging on and be out paddling.
These days though? Who knows. The longer that boat sits in the garage, the more the sandpaper calls to me.
I did a small area tonight, starting with 600 going up to 10,000*. Dragging my fingertips from the extensively buffed surface then into the wet sanded area, the difference is shocking. The surface is beyond glassy. Unfortunately. There must be an error in my technique in moving between grits, as there are some fine scratches that take away from the finish. I think ultimately, I’m going to do one last pass with the buffer and call it good. Multiplying the time I spend on one tiny are against the whole surface of the boat, well, I’m not that patient. Maybe next winter. This year, I just want to address the gross deficiencies…
I got the hardware via UPS today. Depending on my work schedule and the weather, I’m going to start the installation in the next few days. I’ll report back on which technique(s) I use in the the end.
*I didn’t know 10,000 grit sand paper existed. It could just as well be a small kitten that you rub on the paint.
On a Tempest 17 glass or kevlar I would suggest worrying less about the SS bolts and a LOT more about the skeg box and the hatch rims. The skeg box is “stuck” to the hull, vs woven into the hull. Ours leaked on 2 boats, and had to be repaired w cloth and resin. Also, the hatch rims were leaking at attachment to hull and had to be replaced and or resealed. Also, the seat mounts to hull needed reinforcng with resin and tape. Wilderness Systems was so busy finding a cheap country to produce these boats that they forgot to worry about quality. The Kayaksport hatch covers are better than the 2 color Wilderness brand.
The hull design and comfort we really like…execution, not so much.
Cheers,
Jay
Thanks for the tips. Mine hasn’t been leaking or showing any of the other problems you’ve mentioned. I don’t know where they were making them back in 2005 so either the QC was better then or I got a particularly good one.
If the bolt ends extend beyond the nut, I would suggest stainless crown nuts instead of regular hex nuts. If the ends extend significantly beyond the hex nuts you can install a crown nut on top of the hex nuts. I’ve had bolt ends tear dry bags and stuff sacks when you’re stuffing things in the boat for kayak camping. Use fasteners from a marine supply store, not a regular hardware store. There are different grades of stainless, and the stainless fasteners sold in regular hardware store do not hold up with extended exposure to salt water.
I’ve installed marine grade stainless crown nuts on all of my deck fittings.
The good thing with the stock (and replacement hardware) is that the nuts integrate a plastic or rubber tip that covers the exposed tip of the bolt and makes a smooth exposed surface. Essentially what I’d call a cap nut.
The key with sanding is to not jump more than double in grit at a time, such as 600,1200, 2400, etc., or as close as possible. Whenever you change grits, you have to make sure that the surface is completely clean (no particles from the previous grit left) and make sure you remove all the scratches left by the previous grit. If you don’t, the finer grits will never remove them. IIRC, I only sanded mine through 1500 grit, which started to produce a decent shine. I then buffed with rubbing compound (orange), buffing compound (white) and finished it with Dolphinite.
Victory. I was able to stall the three offending fittings tonight with ease thanks to all the suggestions offered here.
My working solution involved my socket wrench with a copper pipe pounded flat to pinch hold the handle of the wrench firmly. The cap bolts were tall enough that in a regular depth socket, they needed no packing underneath to keep them at the proper depth. Then the metal and neoprene washers were held in place with a dab of the 3M sealant.
In fact, my extension handle was long enough that I could manipulate the external screwdriver at the same time as holding the nut and washer in place so I needed no extra help. Had all three fittings in place in less than five minutes. And I only kneeled in a rogue blob of sealant once!
The most challenging part was the fact that I could only see into the depths of the cockpit with one eye based on how I was sitting. Trying to line up the business end of the socket wrench with the protruding bolt without the benefit of depth perception was a little tricky.
…and ow that I have all this work done, the boat launch in the harbor here is closed thanks fo our virus pals. Guess I’ll be waiting a while to get back on the water and test my work.
I had exactly the same problem and nothing I tried worked and I tried everything described here.
Then Shawna suggested that I run the bolt from then inside!
I ran a string from the outside to the inside of the kayak through the bolt hole, pulled it to the cockpit, taped it to the end of an extra-long bolt-&-washer, then pulled the bolt through the hole so I had the washer and bolt head inside.
I then used needle-nosed vice grips to hold the threads in place from the outside, slid my handle over that overlong bolt, set the nut on the outside and wound it tight.
Once it was as tight as possible, I switched the vice-grips to the end of the threads, used a wrench to finish tightening the nut and when that was tight, I used a hacksaw to remove the excess bolt from above the handle. Then I filed down the sharp bits and instead of seeing the bolt head, I see the nut.
It still works and works well. After three years and a hundred trips, it is still as strong as when I mounted it.
