Anyone ever fix an oil canning Kevlar canoe and did you have much success? I’m currently waiting for the glass to set on a five foot foot section of an old Souris 17 I oil canned with too much pressure from the straps bringing it home. It bounced back ok but large cracks that need filling and renewed integrity.

Under repair now. First layup on exterior drying. May add glass on interior.  It’s not the old girl’s first patch.  Any input appreciated.

K

K,

Was able to fix my SR17 by glassing just one side (@ 2'x2' patch).  Had planned to do BOTH sides - and may eventually do so - but doing just the one side seems to be holding up just fine now, 3+ years later.

A towboat service guy got a little careless when unloading my canoe at the LLC drop-off.  My son & his buddy heard the crack but didn't see the damage.  The oilcanning became noticeable about a half-hour later.  Half a roll of duct tape & keeping weight on the weak area allowed them to paddle an additional 8 days.

Good luck!

Jimbo  8-)

PS.

It was the "outside" of the hull that we patched, smoothed & sanded. Maybe this winter I'll get around to doing the inside but it's holding up just fine, as is.

Jimbo  8-)

Thanks Jimbo!

I had two cracks totally just under 5 feet. I used two over sized strips totaling 60” x 4” just on the outside for now. I’m considering adding another two pieces totaling 62” x 6”. I’m curious why you used 2’ x 2’. Was the damaged area that large or was there overall structural integrity reasoning behind your repair?  I too want to insure she floats and withstands my ability to learn something new the hard way.

Thanks in advance and good too hear from you!

K

Well, I haven't looked at it in a while and, right now, I'm separated from it by the Atlantic Ocean. If memory serves correctly, the crack or cracks were not very long, ran more vertical than lengthwise, & were confined between a couple of the "ribs" of the vessel.  The guy dropped my boat on solid rock but, apparently, not flat rock.  The impact was fairly localized. 2 feet by 2 feet was enough to affix the patch solidly across a couple supportive ribs (where the hull was a bit thicker) & get the job done.

I'll take a closer look when I get back home to verify.  Sounds like your damage may have been more substantial than mine, though. Could be that both an inside & outside application are warranted.

Later,

Jimbo  8-)

Understanding your damage was more vertical answered my questions. My damage is horizontal.

I will be adding an additional layup on the exterior, slightly wider and longer and one layup on the inside. Maybe overkill, but again I’ve learned the hard way so many times that I’m happier knowing I’ve done my best up front. It’s also therapeutic.

We’re good here.  I’m confident this will work out as well as the repair I made a few years back that looked like a 2x4 end was dropped from 100 feet punching a horizontal and vertical rip in the bottom. Ouch! 

And yes, Duct Tape IS Mandatory equipment.

Charlie ain’t pretty, but she floats.

Thanks!

Safe travels!

Got a picture?

Here you go.  Not a great pic for clarity from what I see on my end. I'm sure it's me - not clear on what I am doing.

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   This might give you some good info/tips.

      (You need to Login or Register

   While your doing those patches maybe refinish the whole outside?

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  Maybe just re-varnish it?

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ST,

I agree. I realize I wasn’t able to share a sizable picture and I’m sure it’s my lack of knowing the ropes around the QJ these days.

With a better picture it would show the 5 foot patch and crack below. The Pat h needs feathering and I am going to apply an additional patch over it as well as in the interior. After that I will eventually refinish the entire boat as I did from the former damage.

Charlie winters under a tarp in the backyard that on occasion exposes the hull and with an excess of walnut trees and squirrels in my backyard gets a weathered look along with the fact I bought it well used. The last time I refinished her she sparkled.

If and when I figure out how to post better pictures and when Charlie is back in her best character I will again post a picture. It may be late next spring before then so.. something to look forward to over the winter months? I’m  awfully busy with work this time of year so it is what it is. “Winter is coming “. 😏

Thanks for the links my friend! I’ll give them a look see.

The best lesson here is.. that Kevlar repairs are not that difficult and usually doable.

K

The guy from the Red Rock store has some good articles.
He's a Souris River dealer so he knows how to work on that type of lay-up.

  More info the better it is. Learning from others when they do thing right or even wrong, saves you a lot of misery if you've never done something before.  ;) ;D

Over the years I have patched a few cracked ribs and a small puncture hole in the hull of my Souris River using US composites epoxy and fiberglass cloth tape.  I am thinking the tape would work well to repair your cracks.    (You need to Login or Register (bottom of page in various widths.)
The procedure I follow is to sand the area so the epoxy can make a good bond and then apply the fiberglass patch wetted out with epoxy. There will be some rough areas after the epoxy sets up on the edges due to loose fiberglass threads.  The next day, I then carefully grind this area flat and feather it relatively smooth before applying another layer of epoxy to finish the repair.  It takes a couple days to finish, but I have had good results with this method.

Arnesr,

That's exactly the method I follow.

Good to know it works for solid others too.

Coffee - resin, fiberglass, sand paper and cheesecloth - why pay for therapy.

Indecently, I've watched some youtube videos that overcomplicate it - somewhat hysterical if you find them -  unlike the quality links posted here by you and ST.

It's just not that hard - even I can do it.

Thank you.

K