Forums > Help! > Canoes, paddles and spray decks

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
get a tennis racket or two, some plastic bags, and some duct tape. should work as a temporary fix...

Or a shovel...

"beg beg grovel beg grovel"
"master"
--FSA

"There was an arse there, i couldn't help myself"
--Rougie

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
a shovel

where abouts dose it say "do not use" on this canoe ucof????

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
I have a spray deck, buoyancy aid and a helmet lurking in the depths of my wardrobe at home. I've probably got a paddle somewhere around as well.

What kind of canoe is it and what's it made of?

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
*posts you a paddle from australia*

j/k.

thats a pretty lucky find. enjoy your paddling adventures!

"but have you considered there is more to life than your eyelids?"

jointly owned by Fire_Spinning_Angel and Blu_Valley

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
do you have top pay river tax for a canoe??? like the ones you get on bigger boats *try's to hide the fact he knows little about boats* :blush:

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
Not if you pretend it is a hat when inspectors come round.



and once again... im bigging up the bovril

Muchos gracias



Ravehead: It says "do NOT use" on the top of it



Bov: Its now classed as a Kayak. Made from Plastic. I dont think its fibreglass anyway. Its like all the ones i used in the scouts.

Posted: 28th Apr 2006

 Written by: ravehead


do you have top pay river tax for a canoe??? like the ones you get on bigger boats *try's to hide the fact he knows little about boats* :blush:

It depends on the river. You're supposed to pay to use a canoe on the Thames and unless things have changed since the last time I did, paying to use the Thames also lets you use most other waterways in the UK.

It's a hell of a lot cheaper than for a larger boat though - there's a small flat fee for a canoe or kayak, there's no pricing based on how long and wide the boat is.

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
all you need jon is some plumbers putty, and a small aubergine

Always use "so's your face" and "only on Tuesdays" in as many conversations possible

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
Jon, I'm presuming that if you're talking a double ended paddle and a spraydeck, that you've found a kayak, not a canoe?

Kayak cockpits are generally all the same size- just put the spraydeck on whilst your on dry land, and make sure it comes off easily.

If the kayak has 'do not use' written on it, then just look over it and try to see why. It could be because of the holes you've mentioned along the sides.
It could also be because it doesn't have any buoyancy inside the boat (have a look and see if there's any airbags (unlikely), or a foam centre strip running down the back of the kayak.
This isn't hugely important if you're only paddling it on a canal, but just be aware that a boat with no buoyancy is a b*tch to empty.

To patch up those holes on the sides, one of the best things to use is 'epoxy resin'. (Buy it in tubes from any hardwear store- it's in 2 halves, that harden when they mix together).
If the holes are bigger than what you can just glue back up, then use a plastic patch (something like a square cut from a plastic milk carton), and put loads of epoxy on the joins.
Make sure the boat is clean and dry before you start glueing.

Oh yeah, and if you're planning on doing any upside down stuff, be aware that canal water really isn't what you want your head to be in! Apart from all the crap from engines in it, it's also classed as stagnant water. This means there's always the possibility of catching weil's disease (leptospirosis)- a rather nasty bacteria, transmitted by rat's urine. (It's there, but it's not massively common).

Hope you have fun with it! (sorry I can't help you out with any kit- I have lots of spare stuff, but it'd be expensive for you to buy it from me).
If you have any more questions, ask away.

Lets steal a spaceship and head for the sun, and shoot the stars with a lemonade ray gun.

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
Yeah.. Kayak.. thats the one



Fantastic Mand, thank you very much



I have had a look over it today and all the damage I could see was indeed just the holes in the seal between the upper and lower hulls.

Theres a scrape on the bottom of it, but nothing so big as to sink it.



It does have the bouyancy bags at either end thankfully, I checked that, and thankfully, its fairly easy to overturn and empty of water.

I think it has do not use on as it was a Scout one, and they didnt want to run the risk of a scout having an accident in it. Does that seem plausible?



Epoxy resin = Araldite?



I dont think I'll be doing eskimo rolls in the canal if I can help it



I assume that I dont need a BCU qualification to use a spraydeck? I know that when we were in the Scouts you could only use one if you had level 2 I think.

I also assume if i capsize, its just a case of (bang on the bottom of the kayak ), dont panic, then either try to roll over or simply pull the tag on the spraydeck to release? Yep?



Cheers me dears



Bovril: Spitz? / me to you? for pick up?

Posted: 28th Apr 2006
Epoxy resin = Araldite?

Yes. I think so, anyway.

"beg beg grovel beg grovel"
"master"
--FSA

"There was an arse there, i couldn't help myself"
--Rougie

Posted: 29th Apr 2006
Yeah have a mate spot for you, then try rolling under then getting out while upside down by pulling your deck off or you could your spotter could try rolling you back up.
If its only a little hole duck tape is a good temporary fix for holes, just make sure the boat is dry when you patch it.
Have fun!

Seize The Carp

Posted: 2nd May 2006
Bro! You have to be real carefull about resins! If say the canoe was made of resin but was a different type than you have (or has foam in it); it COULD catch on fire! I have worked with fibre glass and resin alot. Even if the canoe is made from plastic it CAN have a reaction. Iv seen mal surfboards burst into flame because this glasser got the glass wrong. Usually tho; this mainly applies to epoxy resin. Even if you have the SAME glass, if you use to much hardner (get the mix wrong) it can catch on fire. If it starts smoking NEVER throw it in water!!! And get away because the gas is toxic.

The only real way to know is make a slow mix (that means dont add to much hardner) and "test" it on a piece of the canoe you can "afford" to lose or any other materials it will contact. Then if it starts smoking youll know its the wrong glass type. Use a glass container to mix the glass; that way it wont combust. If the test is fine then you can make a hotter mix. I usually use about 6 drops hardner per 1/2 (or less) jar of glass. (thats medium) but go with your instructions!

If you need to patch holes with a bog type patch; you can use patch's of fibre OR you chop the fibre up into lil pieces and drop abit of it in the jar and mix it, it should turn into a putty or filler.

Ay i cant believe you have to PAY to paddle on a river!!! wth!

Anyway Good luck

Posted: 3rd May 2006
Sounds to me like your boat is plastic rather than fibreglass but either way, Aryldite should work fine (it doesn't heat up like a lot of resins - slower reaction?). Just:

Clean the 'wound'.
Stick masking tape over the inside side of the hole.
Pour aryldite into the hole from the outside and leave until it's set.
Might be worth sanding any excess off to make it a bit neater.

If you've not paddled before, it's definitely worth having someone spot you while you do your first couple of emergency exits (roll upside down, pull deck chord, escape).

Hope that's of use - happy paddling

Cake or Death?

Posted: 3rd May 2006
Plastic and Resin....made me a big mess in college 3D workshop....

Had a bottom of a beer can, with a really thin flower pot holder on it sealed with clay at the bottom...
Mixed resin and harder together and poured into the flower pot...was fine for 5 mins as we waited for it to set...but then the harder started divolving the plastic..and I had resin eeeeeeverywear. Not a fun substance to clear up..

Posted: 8th May 2006
i think thats pretty irresponsible if it was the scouts (or anyone) to just float an unusable kayak down the river. but a good thing for you.

i dont know much about how to fix the kayak but dont worry about having a 2 star award. thats just basically ensuring that young scouts arent too scared about capsizing with a spray deck on. its not a requirement for using one.

as long as you are confident and remember to remove the spray deck when u do capsize u should be ok.

besides paddling without one is all dribbly and poo.

im uber jealous, i want one.
have fun with it!

Owner of Dragosani's right side.