ChrisJK wrote: ↑Sat Mar 05, 2022 9:10 pm
From my boat builders view there were some snags including a sudden bloom of amine blush and some minor leaks but I'll work on them,
Well done Chris, for overcoming the problems of winter cold weather working. Regarding the amine blush, I would paint the kayak. My prototype had a variety of "uglies" that a pot of black paint from B&Q soon sorted.
Leaks are easily traced on dry land by using a garden hose to fill the three compartments, in turn, with water to just beyond the level of the outside sea or river when afloat. The most common leak is from the skeg box corners , as described at page 61 of the Build Manual:
How do I make sure my Skeg box does not leak?
Two builders have reported water leaks from the top corners of the standard plywood skeg box. The plywood and inner solid wood framing of the box have simple joints at these points, so there is potential for leaks. We recommend special care to ensure the skeg box is water-tight. Do not use excessive clamping pressure which would exclude all epoxy adhesive from the joints. Apply glass fibre tape and resin over the outside perimeter of the box. Spoon a small amount of warm thin resin into the upside down box while it is on the bench, before the hole is drilled for the skeg wire fitting, and tip the box so as to run the resin into the joints. Leave the box upside down until the resin is set. Taking extra care at this stage is less trouble than attempting to cure such a leak after the kayak has been completed and launched. Filling the box with water is a good test.
The only leak that I've had trouble tracing was one that I isolated to the stern compartment. I eliminated the skeg box by testing, but the very slow leak continued. With the compartment part filled by hose, I eventually spotted about six tiny drops of water in a straight line, oozing from the outside of the topsides. The holes through the 3 mm ply could only have a tiny fraction of a millimetre in diameter. They were so small that they had broken through the surface tension of coats of epoxy resin and paint. I forced epoxy resin into the holes, and painted. The leak was sealed.
I inspected my other unused plywood, and found similar piercings, perhaps two on each sheet. My only unsubstantiated and uneducated guess is that in the factory, the sheets are moved about by mechanical claws with very fine probes.
Nick.
