expanding crack

Wood Duck 12, fell off a rack onto a cement floor, crack began on the back between the deck and the side panel.  It has been slowly lengthening.  Seventeen inches long as of now.  My guess is the bottom panels are acting like a leaf spring.  In building a Wood Duck they are bent within an inch of their lives and epoxied in place, and now that tension is being released through the crack.

Option 1: a Viking funeral, and building a new Wood Duck 14 to accomodate my golden retriever who is too big for a Wood Duck 12.

Option 2: attempting a repair by sanding down to bare wood or at least bare fiberglass, a few inches on each side of the crack and epoxying fiberglass over it like a Bandaid. Problem is I cannot sandwich the crack between two Bandaids: there is no feasible access to the interior for sanding through the small rear hatch, and laying fiberglass against that acute interior angle would require a tool and skils I do not have.  So there would be only one layer of fiberglass, bandaging the exterior, and I doubt that would suffice.

If I succeed in uploading a picture, you can see the crack as a jagged darker line against the dark paint, at the top of the side panel where it meets the deck. Views?

 

WoodDuckcrack


5 replies:

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RE: expanding crack

I would try to strap, strapping tape, etc the crack closed with some slightly thickend epoxy in the crack. Then wet out a strip of fiberglass and reach into the hatch with your hand (turn the boat so gravity helps, and push the strip into place.  A stick with a point might help. It doesn't have to be perfect.  If you can reach in and sand a bit with a rough sandpaper you would get better adhesion. (wrap sandpaper around long handled scrub brush or sponge stuck to the stick?).  You can add additional epoxy with a brush attached at an angle to the end of a short stick once the 1st epoxy has partly set.  (If you do it too soon it might move the strip).  Once all that has set, do the outside.  It should hold. May not be pretty inside but who cares.  Then build the second wood duck for the retriever and teach him to paddle. then post a video and become famous.

Hope the above is helpful. (this is a quick synopsis of the method used to seal the deck hull joint in strip built kayaks, I think there may be something in the shop tips about it.

Ed

RE: expanding crack

Spread the crack apart as far as you dare, without doing more damage. Pack some epoxy and silica in there and strap it down. Maybe sand the outside and reinforce with some glass. then you would have to redo your finish.

RE: expanding crack

Nick has a technique in wihich he puts a nail on a stick and uses it to push an epoxy -laden strip of fiberglass into position. I was really skeptical, but the technique works. I laid out the three-inch wide roll of fiberglass that came with my kit on some cardboard and cut it to length, brushed it with resin, and then folded the tape up like an accordian to transfer it into the kayak. Stick the nail into one end and use it to push the tape into position. Good luck.

RE: expanding crack

Rafaelo,

First, sorry about your accident, but the good news is that it's definitely fixable. The techniques that the guys mention above should all work, just pick the one you're most comfortable with.

As far as an interior bandage, that's an excellent idea. A single layer of glass tape is plenty strong for what you want. I'm not sure what your access problem is, though. If you use the tools-on-a-stick method you should be able to get all the way to the back of the boat.

You're right that a severly acute angle would be a problem. The thing to do is to convert the angle to a flatter curve by running a fillet. you can get the perfect thickness by using a putty knife cut to the same radius as a nickel.

 

If it's too far to reach, put the tools on a stick.

The round knife is to make the fillets, the square one to remove the excess putty from each side of the fillet and the brush to putthe tape in place.

Larger images and more discussion at Building a Wood Duck 12. Good luck,

Laszlo

 

 

 

RE: expanding crack

Thanks all for heartening words and good advice. 

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