"Alan" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

We had a splendid weekend in the Ardennes until I made a mistake.
How can I repair a royalex canoe after a serious crash?

Cheers,
Alan.

Tell us more about the damage. There are four levels of repair, so we need
to know how badly you crashed.

1) for folds, creases and dents where the boat is still intact, but twisted
all up: initially, leaving it in the warm sun will let the foam core expand
and a lot of damages will go away! Beyond that, a heat gun (careful,
careful: no blisters on the boat wanted!) will encourage the foam core to
expand and you can gently urge the boat back into shape. You will need to
replace all the broken hardware, but the boat will spring back into its
form.

2) For minor tears and abrasions through the skin: a coat of paint or a
fiberglass patch will work, but you will need to heat the surface to prep
it. If the patch is over a 'flex point', such as the chine, you might
consider gluing a rubber patch on instead, as the glass will quickly break
off. End plates are almost always Kevlar.

3) For major tears, some astute folks actually heat and peel the surface
skin back, cut out some of the foam core and replace it with a graft, then
reglue the skin over it. This is a very difficult, but permanent repair, and
in truth I have never seen it done but only heard about it. For major tears,
I usually have sewn the tear shut with parachute cord, then laid a big old
glass patch over it, inside and out.

4) For jagged tears with missing pieces, in flex points that will recieve
much abrasion and impact (such as the front chine, or the side below the
gunnels amidships): toss it out.

--riverman