Some earlier Kari-Tek plastic skeg boxes have come partially loose and started to leak. This procedure is for fixing the leak and making the skeg box to hull joint stronger to prevent any future leaks.
Equipment: Denaturated alcohol, PVC glue, 164 g/m2 fiberglass rowing, polyester resin and hardener, masking tape, top coat, hardener and thickener (glass balls).
Sawhorse, hose, water, Allen wrench set, slotted screwdriver, narrow belt sander, sand paper 100 grit, wedged sanding block (soft), small wooden wedges, flashlight, ShopVac.
- Find the leak: Test back hatch with water, rotating the kayak on a sawhorse. If the skeg box leaks water in, it will normally also leak it out. You should see a crack in the area where it leaks, between the skeg box’s white plastic and the hull from outside of the kayak
- Disassemble skeg internals
- Grind the area on the outside around the skeg box with a narrow belt sander to get maximum adherin of new resin to the area. Sand also the area on the inside with 100 grit sand paper and a wedged soft grinding block
- Pry open the defective area as far as it easily goes, using the small wooden wedges
- Shine the flashlight to the opened crack and look inside to see if the water comes through a thin spot of the reinforcement GRB or if the GRP is fully delaminated from the skeg box side
- Clean the gap with denaturated alcohol
- Let dry overnight (kayak right side up), as there may be water in the structure
- Make a tapered board that can be used to pry the sides of the skeg box tightly to the hull.
- Apply PVC glue to the wedged out -gap. Try to get it as deep as possible e.g. with the tip of a feeler gauge. Then press the wedged board in and clean up the residue
- Let dry for 24 hours
- Cut pieces of rowing to go on the outside and inside for reinforcement of the area, 2 layers minimum
- Remove the wooden wedge from the skeg box
- Clean up the areas with acetone and rag
- Soften the edges of the skeg box with PVC-glue
- Make a 140 g batch of polyester resin and glass the 2 layers of rowing on the inside and preferably 3 layers on the outside
- Let dry for 1-2 hours until properly gelled
- Sand smooth, remove dust with vacuum and an acetone-dipped rag
- Apply masking tape around the area
- Make a 160 g batch of white (or other hull color) top coat
- Paint over the fixed areas first with standard top coat, then thicken it to putty-consistency and do it again to fill any gaps
- Remove masking tapes when still wet
- Let dry 24 hours (due to PVC-glue)
- Sand open the skeg box slit with a narrow belt sander
- Reassemble skeg internals
- Test for leaks
