Malcolm,

That's a good piece of information - far from useless knowledge. But don't be surprised the next time you see a post here along the lines of "the weight is in the glass/epoxy". Some perceptions are hard to get over, even under the illumination of contrary evidence.

I bet you'll get the boat cleaned up nicely.

Sam

: Hello all,

: My kayak was stolen from a "friend" (loosely used) who I lent it
: to. The guy never gave it back, moved, and I later found registered it in
: his name!!! Long story short, the kayak has now been recovered, and has
: been abused- mostly sun damage and water crept under the 'glass. I have
: just stripped all the 'glass off, which was quite easy because it was so
: damaged it just peeled off like tape. I decided to weigh the glass to see
: how much I actually added to the boat with my extra layer of 6oz on the
: bottom. The kayak was layed up with 4oz all over, and then another layer
: of 6oz on the bottom, which in hindsight was totally unnescessary. At the
: time I thought I needed abrasion resistance, but almost all my beachings
: have been in soft sand. I think the 4oz would have been fine.

: Anyway, I need to also add that the layup was terrible due to the epoxy
: kicking way faster than expected. There was way too much resin on this
: boat. Altogether the fiberglass removed from the kayak weighed just a tad
: over 7 pounds. Put that in your storehouse of useless knowledge. I figure
: the extra layer of 6oz added about 2 pounds. I am anxious to see what she
: weighs now that I'm going to do the epoxy right and not mix such large
: batches. (The reason it kicked too fast the first time.) Oh, also for
: reference this is a 19-foot Shearwater Atlantic, which is not only very
: long, but has a high deck, so there's a lot more 'glass than on a smaller
: kayak.

: I will try to get some pics posted of the damage, and keep you updated on the
: restoration. The wood is badly stained where water crept in under the
: 'glass and I am going to have to sand a good 1/16th off to get the color
: back. I figure that will shave another half-pound or so as well! I plan to
: use West System 207, which I am about to post another question about how
: fast it kicks because I live in the tropics. I really want to use slow
: hardener but the 207 has a UV filter built in, which I need down here.

: All the best,

: Malcolm