Poly Kayak Repair
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Mr Sticky's Polybonder works.
Briefly here is what I have done with my wife's Prelude.
Mark the position of the anchors and saddle as Mike Yee suggests on his web site. (http://www.mikeyeeoutfitting.com).
Remove the thwarts and saddle and air bags etc.
Follow the instructions for the polybonder very carefully. The flaming process is particularly important. Do not skimp on the polybonder. My first two bonds failed and I suspect that it was because I skimped on both the flaming and polybonder. Subsequent bonds can be pulled hard enough to distort the boat and have withstood paddling trials. Using 2" D ring anchors it takes about half of a set of 30cc tubes to get a good bond, so for 6 bonds get 2 X 30cc packs. I mixed it on the marked area of the hull where the D ring was going, after flaming.
While the saddle was out I decided to put some 3/4" domestic water piping through the saddle to aid water flow after a roll. I marked 4 or 5 positions 2" above the bottom of the saddle on one side, using set square transferred the markings to the other side, inserted a wooden kebab skewer from one side to the other and when that was lined up on the marks drilled a 1/2" hole through using a round surform file ,working half way from each side using the skewer to guide the surform file. It was then very easy to push though 3/4" pipe and cut it to length.
The two bonds that failed were the ones beside the saddle and I subsequently used a piece of nylon climbing tape though one of the pieces of water pipe to anchor the thigh straps. This has worked very successfully.
Since all our w/w kayaks are polyethylene this may also prove useful for outfitting them as well.
Bob Pealing
View Our Instructional Video On Flame Treating Polyethelyne, Polypropylene, and UHMW:
