HCC General Forum

All of my boats were probably built in the last century so I do a lot of boat repairs and upkeep. I put grunge kelvar pads on the bow and stern of my Rob Roy to stop the leak I had in the stern. The pads were from Piragis and thinner than most grunge pads. I used denatured alcohol to clean the surface since I buy denatured alcohol by the gallon for camping stoves and cleaning. I used Gflex from West Systems for the epoxy to saturate the pads. I could have used other epoxy which might have worked as well. BTW, the Rob Roy is a fiberglass boat so epoxy sticks real well to it. It is only polyethylene which is a problem getting anything to stick to it. 

Bell recommended using Tung Oil for the rails on the Rob Roy so that is what I used. I still had most of the bottle so I used some of the Tung Oil for a bookcase. I had lost a seat buckle so I put in a new one I got from the sewing department of Wal Mart. Bell also recommended using 303 protectant on the bottom of the Rob Roy so I did so. They said boat wax would slow the boat some. The gunnels and thwarts of the Dagger Reflection 15 needed varnishing so I used some Marine spar vanish. It work have looked better if I had started varnishing earlier because unprotected wood will turn grey. I also used the varnish to re varnish my paddles. I had to do a light sanding to get the paddles smooth in places, 

You can find much of what you need in the local hardware. General boat materials can be found at West Marine either in stores or on-line. Specialized canoe and kayak materials can be found on-line at CKS (Colorado Kayak Supply), NRS, Natahala Outdoor Store and Piragis. I like CKS since I saw their store at the Colorado Paddle Festival. Also, REI and LL Bean have some  paddling equipment. 

If you prefer to have the repair done professionally, probably TG Canoe Livery by the San Marcos is the best in Texas. Duane has been repairing boats for a long time and have gave a good 1 hour workshop at the Rendezvous a long time ago. I have not tried it but maybe someone closer who repairs other boats could do fiberglass repairs.

Thanks Mark for the information on boat repair. Paul and I always did it ourselves. Ordered parts from NRS, Blue Hole in Kemah, or Marine West on Hempstead Hwy and 12th street in Houston. Again Mark THANKS !!!!!!!!