Geoff and I recently had our NDK Explorer kayaks smartened up by Andy Willcocks of ASW Boatbuilders.
Our kayaks are around three years old and whilst still in great structural condition, the gel coat was beginning to show the signs of wear and tear – hundreds of launches and landings on sand and rocks and more than a few misjudged ‘rock hopping’ manoeuvres. We wanted to make sure that the kayaks are in great condition before we set off.
Repairing the gelcoat
We had expected Andy to just grind out the worst of the scratches and apply some new gel coat – but to our delight he repaired and polished the entire hull on each kayak for us. They came back looking brand new! What’s more he wouldn’t take any money from us – a very generous donation to support the expedition.
Just in case you are interested – the kayaks are made of fibre glass and are constructed from chop strand matt, woven cloth and polyester resin. The deck is a slightly lighter lay up than the hull which comes with an internal reinforced keel and internal and external glass seams.
No doubt the kayaks will need a polish up when we get back in August – and no prizes for guessing who we’ll ask to do that for us.
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I have to admit that I was rather baffled by the title of this post which I misread as “Shiny new goat – thanks to ASW Boatbuilders”
Am enjoying following the warm-up to the trip
Ooo – good to know this is possible – sure I will need a refit in dry dock after our adventure…
Sounds like a great job. I can see producing your own brand of circumnavigation Midlifekayak’s when your back !