Major Structural Repairs

April-May 2006

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
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by Alex Matthews

In the churning whitewater, my bow deflects and the powerful current sweeps my sea kayak sideways. I feel the initial hit as the rigid shell of my boat smashes into a rock under the foaming water. In that microsecond, I still don’t know how bad it will be. Optimistically, the thought flashes through my mind—the boat can take this kind of hit. But I’m aware that it’s a heavy collision in really strong current, and in the next instant I feel the shell give way as the sharp rock moves through the composite hull and penetrates the cockpit at my right hip. I know all too well what’s coming next, and right on cue, water starts gushing into the boat. I lean aggressively downstream, and the boat pivots off the rock.

Clear of the current, I pop my skirt and gaze down—the cockpit is awash in water. I paddle my swamped boat to shore and survey the damage. A very large, jagged ‘L’ shaped hole has been ripped right through the hull. I break out the duct tape, dry the hull and run multiple layers of tape over the damage for the paddle home.

If like me, you love to paddle in rock gardens or find yourself inexorably drawn to crashing waves, jagged reefs and swift current, a damaged boat won’t come as much of a surprise. An occasional collision with a razor-sharp, barnacle-encrusted immovable object is just par for the course. And if you paddle a composite boat aggressively in this kind of environment, sooner or later you’ll punch a thundering big hole in it.

There are also all sorts of other great ways to do serious damage to a composite kayak. Transport has got to be the #1 threat to any boat. Parking garages love to eat kayaks, displaying a seemingly limitless appetite for fiberglass, Kevlar® and carbon fiber. Additionally, tie-down straps fail, knots loosen, factory roof-racks rip off car roofs.

Grinding out the damage.

It’s fairly easy for paddlers to fix small repairs to gelcoat, or other cosmetic dings, but for major repairs such as damage that might compromise a kayak’s structural integrity, it’s best to have the work done by professionals. Not only can an amateur repair job be a real eyesore, it may not provide the strength needed in the damaged area.

Composite structures represent a complex combination of fibers and resins. Fiberglass is the most widely used fiber material, but it comes in many different configurations from mat, to weaves or even chop strand. Kevlar® and carbon fiber may also be used, in addition to fiberglass, to stiffen or lighten the boat. Some layups include urethane foam cores for even greater stiffness. Not all these components and resins play nicely together, so durable bonds are highly dependent on careful prep and the judicious use and combination of materials.

Luckily for me, a true composites guru, with over 25 years experience in the field, lives and works near me on southern Vancouver Island.

While the name Campbell Black may not be as well known in the paddlesports industry as Brian Henry’s, the fact is, it was their partnership that drove the tremendous success of Current Designs Kayaks. While Brian Henry’s talents lay in boat design, promotion and sales, Campbell Black focused on how to manufacture the best product possible. He brought his specialized expertise to the development and implementation of all of the composite systems for Current Designs, overseeing everything from the innovative vacuum bagging process, to designing layups for optimum strength-to-weight ratios.

Throughout the entire time that he was an owner of Current Designs (sold to Wenonah Canoe in 1999), Black continued to operate another, separate company: Blackline Marine, specializing in yacht repair and overhaul, composite structures, complete paint refinishing systems and yacht rigging. The yacht repair and overhaul division, where power and sail yachts up to 70 feet and 35 tons can be accommodated, is located in Canoe Cove (close to the BC ferry terminal at Swartz Bay). Specialty activities, and small boat repairs like mine, are carried out in a separate shop located near the Victoria airport.

With my damaged kayak in his spacious shop, Campbell assesses the damage. He’s like a surgeon bending over a patient’s open body. My boat isn’t a Current Designs model, but he immediately lists off all the materials that comprise the laminate. An employee is checking out the boat as well, as Campbell identifies the exotic core material in the layup and explains why it works and how. Incredibly, even after all these years, he’s as passionate as ever about how things are made.

Shaking his head, he probes the jagged hole that I have inflicted on my poor defenseless kayak. The gaping wound is a silent, accusing testament to my crimes against fiberglass and foam core.

“How exactly did you do this again?” Campbell asks.

“Oh you know…,” I mumble weakly, “gnarly current… sharp rocks…”

There’s more shaking of the head as he examines the ugly gash in my boat.

“Can you fix it?” I ask.

He looks up in mild surprise.

“Oh yeah,” he says, as if the question is a rather daft one.

Campbell explains that for the best repairs, the materials used should be of superior quality to those employed in the original manufacture of the boat. For my repair, he will stabilize the outer skin, and then grind out the damaged areas, feathering in many layers of very fine woven material. The lamination process will be performed using an epoxy resin under vacuum to generate the best possible resin-to-fiber ratio. Finally, the repaired area on the outside of the hull will get sprayed with gelcoat, which will be sanded and buffed to match the finish on the rest of the hull.

A few weeks pass and finally I drive up to the shop to pick up my boat. I’ve long since embraced the idea of a big, ugly and obvious patch on my kayak. I console myself by focusing on the fact that it will be totally functional, and besides, it will just make my boat look really ‘hardcore’. The repair that greets me is quite different, however. The work is beautiful. From the outside, there is no sign of a repair at all other than a subtle hint of difference in gelcoat color. When viewed in the right light, a minor variation can be detected: the white is a tiny bit lighter (I have to actively point this out to people for them to notice). Inspecting the interior of the cockpit, I see virtually no sign of repair at all! It’s like magic—there should be a nasty great hole, but instead there is only smooth uninterrupted composite. Campbell has even managed to align the torn edges of the honeycomb Soric® foam core. Without being told, even someone inspecting the boat very closely would never suspect the size and severity of the damage I had done.

As good as new!

While a repair of this quality is not inexpensive, it is actually good value for money. Even after suffering heavy damage, my boat is again in great condition, both structurally and cosmetically. It is effectively an invisible repair, and the boat looks so good that its resale value remains high. A functional, but ugly repair would have seriously decreased the resale value (always tell a prospective buyer about repair work—if it’s of this quality, it won’t be an issue). Even more importantly for me, is the fact that the repair is structurally sound. I do not have even a nanosecond’s hesitation about the strength of the repair—if anything, the boat is stronger in the repaired area than before, because more and finer material has been added to that spot.

For minor scrapes and dings to gelcoat, if you’re handy, get some advice and do the work yourself. For major structural damage, though, it’s best to find a professional boat repair yard. If you’re lucky enough to live on Vancouver Island South, Blackline Marine gets my very hearty recommendation.

Blackline Marine: 2072 Henry Avenue West, Sidney, BC.

Web:www.blacklinemarine.com. Ph: 250-654-0052.

Photos courtesy of Blackline Marine.