New to canoe repair, looking for info

I'm bumping the thread as I'm surprised by the lack of replies (perhaps others missed it as I did). It appears that Hoefgen is out of business as the number I found here is disconnected.

There is a Hoefgen canoe owner's group on Facebook if you're allowed on there. Maybe they could give some information on your boat.

The most important information to have regarding repairs is the material used to manufacture the hull. Anything can be repaired if you know what it's made of but fiberglass, royalex, polyethylene... best practices vary with each.

Welcome to the site, sorry I missed the thread when you posted on Monday and if you can post info as you find it, it might be helpful to others in the future (especially on the more rarely seen boats).

A quick search of the archives shows the @ErktheRed has (had?) a Hoefgen... Maybe he can help?

Thanks.

Ill keep poking around.

Hard to tell from the pictures. It looks like it might just be gel coat chipped off with Kevlar underneath. I'd be inclined to chamfer the edge of the chipped off area, fill it with thickened epoxy, and paint it with something close to the original hull color.

Alan

Thanks.

My problem at the moment is understanding all the various potential construction materials and products, and the terms people will use interchangeably. But its coming into focus.

I am with Alan. Epoxy thickened, sand it and paint it.

DanC said:

My problem at the moment is understanding all the various potential construction materials and products

Click to expand...

Dan, welcome to site membership! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, because canoeing is a geographic sport, please add your location to the Account Details page in your profile, which will cause it to show under your avatar as a clickable map link. Many of the site's technical features are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community.

You have to know what material your hull is made of in order to be specific about repair. It's obviously not a wood or aluminum hull. So, that leaves the various types of plastic hulls (Royalex/ABS, polyethylene) or composite fabric hulls (fiberglass, Kevlar, others) saturated with a hardened resin (epoxy, vinylester, polyester).

I'd guess from the picture that your hull is some sort of composite fabric. Composite hulls usually have a colored gel coat on the outside, which crudely is like a nail polish, to make it look shiny and provide a protective barrier against scratches and other abrasions. This gel coat inevitably gets scratched, scraped or chipped off with use.

To repair gel coat, you could try to find matching gel coat from a marine supply store and try painting it on, but the color match may not be perfect. Besides, the scratches or abrasions may have penetrated deeper than just the gel coat and damaged the underlying composite fabric. If that's the case, the solution offered by @Alan Gage and @ppine is a typical one: fill in the scrapes with epoxy (perhaps thickened) and then, if you wish, just paint the hull to get a new and consistent color. With use, of course, the paint will scratch off and the cycle repeats. So, many folks don't bother trying to pretty up an older canoe.

If the damage to the underlying composite fabric is actually structural, such as cracks or tears that penetrate through the fabric, you would then have to apply fabric patches (usually fiberglass) with epoxy on the inner and outer hulls over the damaged area.

West Systems epoxy is a popular choice for all these repairs, and West also sells its own companion thickening agents. The following repair kit may have all the ingredients you need.


Searches will reveal many discussions and pictures on this site and elsewhere on the internet about all of this.

Gamma is correct, I did have a Hoefgen canoe. It was also my entry boat into the real world of canoeing. It paddles really well, especially on choppy waters. Mine also had some deep nicks in the gel coat and some wear on the sterns keel. I didn’t bother painting it yellow to match, although that was my original idea. However, they discontinued that color because it was too pricy to mix. I spoke to Hoefgen canoes when I first got it and they sent me replacement decals and gave me some good information about that particular canoe. They were really easy to talk to and said they will still make their canoes for anyone who still wants one but they don’t advertise it.

Mine was a glass composite and I had to get padded yoke pads for the yoke that was really just a bar like thwart. Otherwise it was a pain. I really liked the boat and the color grew on me. I did replace the seats with cherry cane seats, and the gel coat repair. There is a ton of gel coat on those so they can handle more than you’d think. If you’re willing to put in a little work, I think they’re a worthy boat. Mine was a 1985, in great shape. Yours is much newer
I thought I had photos of the gouges, turns out I don’t

Pretty good lines. Not having a keel is a plus. The bottom is a little flat, but an okay design. The bulge in the bow is awkward but may be pretty functional.