Boat Question

**cincystar** · 04-29-2007, 09:30 AM

So I have a pretty nice kayak sitting back at my moms house but when I went to check it this last summer the bottom of the boat had a pretty big dent/warp from being leaned against a wood beam in a very hot attic.

Any way to pound this out or pop it back into place? Id hope so as Im sure it paddles like shit the way the hull is shaped now. Thanks for the help!

**lazaruslong1108** · 04-29-2007, 12:23 PM

Just get a heat gun or a blowdrier and it will pop right out. Leaving it in the sun will work as well, as long as it is a very hot day.

**danhikeski** · 04-29-2007, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by lazaruslong1108

Just get a heat gun or a blowdrier and it will pop right out. Leaving it in the sun will work as well, as long as it is a very hot day.

What we would do at an outdoor store is take some weight, 20 lbs or so, and set it in the boat for a few hours to a day, depends on how big the dent is/how long it was there/thickness of plastic. This place would sell 1000 boats a year, and with the rack system they used, each year we would have to "fix" 20-40 boats.

I've seen boats with the nose hooked and deck combing bent out of shape because of heat in the back of a semi trailer. These would be warrantied through the manufacturer, or not accepted off the truck.

The manufacturers do not consider this a defect if it is on the bottom of the boat.

**DamRepublican** · 04-29-2007, 10:16 PM

I'll vote for sun and/or blowdryer I wouldn't recommend the heat gun, they get very hot and could easily melt your plastic if you arent really careful, I've had the most success with just leaving it out in the hot sun, if its bad enough stick some weight on it while it sits out, heck stick a weight in it while it sits level in the hot attic.

**Conundrum** · 05-01-2007, 10:43 AM

I would avoid the heat gun unless you are a patient person. You can weaken the plastic if you heat to fast.

My advice would be either waiting for a hot sunny day and leaving out in the sun hull up or support both ends of the boat with cinder blocks or something like that and pour boiling water in the boat.

**refried** · 05-02-2007, 02:37 AM

I've used hot water to remove oilcanning from boats, heat up a couple big pots of water and pour it over the bad area inside and out.

**kayaktheworld** · 05-02-2007, 07:49 AM

Although all of the said ideas are better ones, here is kind of an interesting alternative: You could put it in a hot tup for a few seconds and then lay it on a really flat surface with some weight in the bottom. Could be an interesting experiment...