Hi 

Hi,

First off, I guess you've seen the Kayak Repair Video that we've just uploaded? If not then please take a look at it here in our Online Learning Centre:

How to Repair a Damaged Carbon/Kevlar Kayak or Canoe

If you have any questions about the processes in the video then you can post them into this discussion thread for the video:

Kayak Repair Tutorial Discussion Thread

When you say you want to apply a new gelcoat, do you mean to the entire kayak? If so, this is tricky because gelcoats are really designed to be applied to moulds and then backed up with reinforcement - they're not designed to be applied to the outside of things (like paint is) and so will be notoriously bad at self levelling and difficult to flat and polish. You would need to add 'wax additive' to a polyester gelcoat to prevent it from staying tacky in contact with air and you would also find the polyester gelcoat won't have a very good bond onto the rest of the boat. You might find it better to rub the boat back and then spray it with an 2 pack polyurethane paint (there are many designed specifically for boats) if you want to restore the gloss and protect your boat.

I hope this helps.

Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Hi Matt

Hi Jez,

If spraying's not an option and it's for the ongoing protection of the boat rather than bringing it up to a full glossy appearance then I think painting epoxy on would be a good way to go. Epoxy will bond better to whatever it is that the boat is made from than polyester would and if it's on the underside then we don't need to be particularly worried about UV protection so I'd suggest our Epoxy Coating Resin. You'll need to key-up the surface first (like we do in the video) and then your two options for the finishing of it would be to either pulling a release film tight over it or flatting and polishing it afterwards.

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

How about using flow coat?  Its an easy way of adding thickness to the gelcoat. 

What would be a good addition to the kayak repair guide would be details of foam cored boats.  These obviously need doing on both skins.  Access to the inside can be difficult so some ideas of how to do that effectively would be good.