I accidentally dropped my Kevlar canoe from the garage hoist system. it landed hard on the stem. damage is about 3 inches . gel coat is chipped and cracked yet the fabric doesn't seem to be damaged.


I'd like to get some ideas on how to repair this by myself, it will be great to know all the tools and material involved

in the meantime, I want to keep using it as is .should I worried about a leak in the bow? will some gorilla tape work as a quick fix?

Quite a dent! To get the dent out, I would try pouring hot water on the inside and weighting with a sandbag to pop the dent out. I've successfully done this on a couple of boats. In both cases, the hull returned to its original state right away.

There are a lot of step by step repair videos for epoxy and the gel coat on Youtube. Novacraft has a good one.

Wow great tip for getting a dent out like that thanks Peter K!

Once that is done you want to get a fine dremel grinder and carefully trim up all the wounds. Depending upon how deep they are you may consider putting some cloth or other filler in with the epoxy you'll use to repair it. I'd use release cloth if you just want to epoxy fix it, but if you'd been considering installing skid plates now is the time to do this end and after you get it trimmed up with the dremel just proceed with that - again possibly with a small amount of filler in the wounds.

Does that work with composite hulls?

I have done that with Royalex and poly hulls, using a halogen lamp to slowly and carefully warm a large area of hull before pushing a dent out and bracing it there while the hull cooled.

The shattered and missing gel coat is deep enough, down to visible fabric, that I would remove any loose or lifted stuff and fill the voids with new gel coat.

That was quite a blow, and I’d inspect the inside of the hull to see if there is any damage to the fabric on that side. If the inside is clear, not painted, damaged fabric can be visibly torn fabric, or cloudy areas where the resin and fabric have separated.

If there is damage to the fabric lay a patch on the inside overlapping the edges of any damage. S-glass and epoxy and release treated peel ply.

Disclaimer: I don't know much about fiberglass/composite repair but having had some do it for me they showed me the Quarter Test (or I guess a nickle would do). By bouncing the edge of the quarter off the hull (running along the stem/keel/hull center was demonstrated to me) you can hear if the sound change indicating whether or not the fiber layers have delaminated under the gel coat and whether or not repairing further out is required.

I kinda blew past the actual questions.

Worry about a leak? Probably not, especially if, viewed from the inside, the fabric appears intact. The gel coat is kind of a sacrificial layer, there to prevent abrasion/damage to the fabric and provide UV protection.

But continuing to use it as is/unrepaired may increase the amount of gel coat damage as new pieces flake off or begin to lift.

Gorilla tape as a quick fix? Well, it’ll work, and as a field repair during a trip that’s what I would do, depending on the trip. The downsides to laying Gorilla tape across the damage is that it may pull off more gel coat when you remove it; no biggie, you would want to remove any gel coat that was questionably adhered.

The bigger issue would be extra steps required to remove any duct tape residue from the areas to be repaired. You will want a clean surface, without duct tape adhesive residue, before laying down gel coat.

If you are going to repair the damage eventually sooner would be better than later.

Maybe I'm seeing something different than Peter K. but I don't see a dent, just broken gel coat.

I'm guessing a float tank will keep you from inspecting the cloth on the inside of the the hull.

If it was me I chip/sand/grind out all the damaged gel coat that didn't seem like it really wanted to stay put. Then I'd feather the edges of the surrounding gel coat, fill the remaining hole with thickened epoxy (will probably take a few coats), sand it smooth, and top it with a patch of two layers of fiberglass (or better yet one layer of dynel). Sand that smooth again and paint to semi-match the hull.

Peel ply will make things a lot easier.

Alan

thank you all.

Mike, I did end up using gorilla waterproof patch & seal tape. that thing is super sticky, i wish I've read your reply before doing that.


Alan, you are right about the dent, it is nothing but the reflection, and you are also right about the flotation tank stopping me from inspecting the inside. as a newbie, I was first puzzled by what others said about checking on the inside, then I realized that not all canoes have flotation tank. your instruction is very detailed. i will definitely give it a try, thanks again

What's "peel ply"?

If it will make things a lot easier, I want to make sure I know what it is!

P.

_________________
Learning to paddle is like learning a language:
It's easy to learn the basics, but will you be understood in a strong wind?

It's usually a finely woven nylon that has been treated to not stick to resin. It's the last thing you put down and it helps to get a smooth finish, fill the weave of the cloth, and make a nice transition from patch to hull. Once the epoxy is cured you peel it off.

Alan

Thanks, got it. So, fancy Saran Wrap!

P.

_________________
Learning to paddle is like learning a language:
It's easy to learn the basics, but will you be understood in a strong wind?

"peel ply" and "release cloth" are 2 names for the same thing. In stores I've only seen it called "release cloth" but as always YMMV

Just a FYI for Mike -- yes, hot water and pressure works quite well on composites -- at least some of the time. I've repaired a Langford ultralite and my Echoee, both different layups, using the technique. Learned of it on Youtube from someone who had a composite sea kayak to repair with a dent in a barely accessible spot.