It's an unfortunate fact that sometimes boats get damaged. It is fortunate that most boats can be repaired. The level of difficulty of the repair depends on the material the boat is made of and the extent of the damage. There is also the cost-benefit analysis to consider; some boats, sadly, are not worth fixing. Here is a brief synopsis of boat building materials as they relate to repair.

• Fiberglass is a common material, probably the most common, for building everything from small yacht tenders to ocean-going sailboats and motor vessels. Fiberglass is a popular material for building high-end sea kayaks like those from Necky and Current Designs. Canoes made of fiberglass have been largely replaced by Royalex, although there are still a lot of fiberglass boats still in use. Repairing fiberglass is relatively easy once you get the hang of using epoxy resins. Care must be used in selecting the correct resin if a protective gel coat is involved. The area of damage on a fiberglass boat tends to be larger than similar damage on a Kevlar or Royalex boat.
  
  
• Kevlar is an amazing material. It is about five times stronger than steel of the same weight, has good workability, and can be used for everything from bullet proof vest to canoes and kayaks. The one disadvantage of Kevlar is its price, which runs roughly 60% to 100% that of Royalex or fiberglass. Kevlar canoes and kayaks built with Kevlar are 30% to 50% lighter that other building materials and incredible strong! But, Kevlar boats can be damaged. Repairing a Kevlar boat is very similar to repairing fiberglass. The area of damage is usually smaller.
  
  
• Royalex is a plastic laminate made from ABS plastic, foam and vinyl gel coat skins. ABS is an incredibly durable, impact-resistant material that is used to make car bumper, trash containers and children's toys. Royalex is the trade name from Uniroyal and is made in Warsaw, Indiana. Royalex is an excellent material to build canoes. Whitewater canoes benefit from the materials toughness and recreational models benefit from Royalex's lightweight, durability and modest price. Damage to Royalex canoes is fairly rare, limited to abrasion damage in the stem areas and cold cracking in boats with wood gunnels.
  
  Cold cracking is caused when the plastic Royalex material contracts or shrinks in cold weather (generally below freezing). If the boat has wood gunnels, the ridge wood does not contract and hence, the Royalex cracks at the screw holes. To prevent cold cracking, remove the gunnel screws within two feet of the ends of the boat. Boats railed with vinyl do not suffer from cold cracking. Manufactures will not warrant cold crack damage. Cold cracks can be repaired but the resin used for this resembles black, thick, sticky tar. Mess up and you'll start to understand the term "tarred and feathered!"
  
  
• Plastic Polyethylene plastic is now the most popular material for building canoes, kayaks, rowboats and yacht tenders. Usually nothing bad happens to PO boats. PO boats do suffer from heat damage, namely hull deformation caused by the hot sun beating down on this sensitive thermoplastic. "Hull pops" usually work themselves out on their own. Sometimes heat and pressure needs to be applied to pop out severe hull pops. Deep gouges can be repaired by melting plastic "sticks" into the damaged area much like alpine ski base repair. Although PO boats seem very economical when compared to, say fiberglass, PO boats have a rather limited lifespan. A PO boat stored outside may only last 5-10 years! UV damage is the culprit. Store PO boats out of direct sunlight if at all possible!
  
  One type of PO plastic can not be repaired. Dagger Canoe and Kayak had "crosslinked" PO boats for several years. These boats were hard, durable and stiff - and unrepairable due to the chemical composition of the "crosslinked" PO. (Do not confuse this with Old Town Canoe's Crosslink trademarked process of building PO canoes.)
  
  
• Aluminum Rowboats, fishing boats and canoes. Aluminum boats are the only boats that are unaffected by weather and UV damage. Puncture or abrasion damage is pretty rare and can be patched with either aluminum or resins. Bent your boat? You can get some money for it at the recycling center.
  
  
• Wood Ahhh, wood! Some people will argue that if God intended there be fiberglass boats, He would have made fiberglass trees! Personally, I think each material has its advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of wood is its beauty. No other material has wood's beauty, character and charm. This is one reason wood boats are often "restored" and boats of other materials are simply repaired. When was the last time someone swooned over a 1948 Grumman Tripper? The canoe that illustrates this page is a Carleton canoe built in Old Town, Maine, sometime prior to 1914 when Old Town Canoe bought Carleton. One of the real advantages of wood is its longevity: Every single piece of a wood canvas canoe can be replaced. Other boats are "patched." Wood canvas canoes can easily out live their owners and the owner's children, with proper care of course.
  
  Repair of wood boats depends greatly on the type of construction. Lapstrake boats have different requirements than wood canvas canoes. A strip-built or plywood sea kayak is treated much like a fiberglass kayak repair. Baidarka style sea kayaks, covered with dacron or canvas require more needlework than say, Royalex canoes. Since wood boats are not really "mono" material hulls like polyethylene plastic hulls, they require more attention to detail concerning how each individual piece relates to its neighbor. This makes repair and restoration work both fun and challenging.
  
  Please contact Roger to discuss any repair or outfitting need... or to just talk boats!