Tweet
About this time last year, I made a post about finding a 2" hairline crack on the bottom of the hull next to one of the scupper hole tubes after having water collect in the hull. http://www.snaggedline.com/showthrea...highlight=goop
I applied several coats of Goop to the crack. This easy repair immediately sealed the crack. It remained dry until two weeks ago. I noticed a quart or so of water in the hull. I set the boat right side up on two supports, then filled it part way with water. I saw a very slow drip in the area I had repaired last summer. I added more Goop and assumed all would be well. On the next outing, I still found a quart of water in the hull. Then on the second outing (yesterday), I found several gallons of water in the hull. The extra weight made it challenging to load to transport it home.
Today before trying another home repair, I called Annapolis Canoe and Kayak, where I had bought the Native Manta Ray 14. The guy who answered told me to bring the kayak to the shop. I got there half an hour later. Within seconds of looking beneath the seat, he expressed disbelief because there were significant cracks in the rear of the seat well. There were two cracks 4" to 6" each across each rear corner of the well. When he pressed the area, that portion of the seat well sunk at least 1/2". The Manta Ray has a semi-permanently attached seat. Because of that, I had never removed the seat, and had not noticed any cracking.
The shop told me they thought this could be handled by Native as a warranty issue. They will speak with the factory reps tomorrow morning. Knowing that the crack is that large, I do not plan to use the kayak again until it is fully repaired or replaced. I left the kayak at the shop. I eagerly await the reply from the Native representatives. In the meantime, if I want to get out for some kayak fishing, I will need to use my old Ocean Kayak Drifter and plan to keep my trips shorter (the Drifter has a much shorter time to butt fatigue).
I will report back what happens in this story.
I applied several coats of Goop to the crack. This easy repair immediately sealed the crack. It remained dry until two weeks ago. I noticed a quart or so of water in the hull. I set the boat right side up on two supports, then filled it part way with water. I saw a very slow drip in the area I had repaired last summer. I added more Goop and assumed all would be well. On the next outing, I still found a quart of water in the hull. Then on the second outing (yesterday), I found several gallons of water in the hull. The extra weight made it challenging to load to transport it home.
Today before trying another home repair, I called Annapolis Canoe and Kayak, where I had bought the Native Manta Ray 14. The guy who answered told me to bring the kayak to the shop. I got there half an hour later. Within seconds of looking beneath the seat, he expressed disbelief because there were significant cracks in the rear of the seat well. There were two cracks 4" to 6" each across each rear corner of the well. When he pressed the area, that portion of the seat well sunk at least 1/2". The Manta Ray has a semi-permanently attached seat. Because of that, I had never removed the seat, and had not noticed any cracking.
The shop told me they thought this could be handled by Native as a warranty issue. They will speak with the factory reps tomorrow morning. Knowing that the crack is that large, I do not plan to use the kayak again until it is fully repaired or replaced. I left the kayak at the shop. I eagerly await the reply from the Native representatives. In the meantime, if I want to get out for some kayak fishing, I will need to use my old Ocean Kayak Drifter and plan to keep my trips shorter (the Drifter has a much shorter time to butt fatigue).
I will report back what happens in this story.
Comment