Hello All,
First post, and first a thank you to the contributors to this forum as I have already read and learned a lot. I have a few questions and am looking for some guidance regarding a Old Town discovery 16.4 I recently picked up. although iv spent plenty of time in a canoe, this is my first , and my intention was to get something pretty cheap to get the family (two young kids) out on some small lakes and ponds for some fishing. Of course, because I'm cheap, I ended up with another project in my garage, so here we go...
i paid 160 for the boat with two paddles, Discovery 164, it was from an estate so the seller knew nothing about it. the inside of the boat looks good with the exception of one small crack, that does not go though to the bottom. The seats, yoke, and thwart are all brand new, or recently replaced. the major damage is at both stems where the hull is worn down into the foam core, as well as one spot about midship where there is a large gash, also exposing the foam. I have not yet tested to boat to see if it leaks, but i don't see anywhere it would.
questions:
1) The hull of the boat if pretty scratched up. definitely appears to have seen some use, however aside from the three areas of major damage, it doesn't seem like anything goes past the outermost shell of Plastic. That being said, is this thing worth putting time and money into? My thoughts are that if the damage doesn't go though the outer layer, they structural integrity of the boat wouldn't really be compromised, and of course it won't leak?
2) if I'm going to keep the boat, it seems obvious i have to address the areas where the hull is damaged into the foam core. Iv read all about gflex and how to repair PE hulls, and i am comfortable using this technique if it is recommended. However i also have experience using "plastic welding" to repair a hobie kayak that was dragged from a trailer and had significant damage. In this case, I cut pieces from a 5 gallon HDPE pail from Lowes, and heated them on my gas grill while i hated the hull with a torch, i then applied them one at a time to rebuild the stem of the boat, then faired with sandpaper. I consider this repair to be successful as it has held up for 5 years of moderate use, and I'm wondering if anyone knows if the same technique would be viable on the old town hull.
First post, and first a thank you to the contributors to this forum as I have already read and learned a lot. I have a few questions and am looking for some guidance regarding a Old Town discovery 16.4 I recently picked up. although iv spent plenty of time in a canoe, this is my first , and my intention was to get something pretty cheap to get the family (two young kids) out on some small lakes and ponds for some fishing. Of course, because I'm cheap, I ended up with another project in my garage, so here we go...
i paid 160 for the boat with two paddles, Discovery 164, it was from an estate so the seller knew nothing about it. the inside of the boat looks good with the exception of one small crack, that does not go though to the bottom. The seats, yoke, and thwart are all brand new, or recently replaced. the major damage is at both stems where the hull is worn down into the foam core, as well as one spot about midship where there is a large gash, also exposing the foam. I have not yet tested to boat to see if it leaks, but i don't see anywhere it would.
questions:
1) The hull of the boat if pretty scratched up. definitely appears to have seen some use, however aside from the three areas of major damage, it doesn't seem like anything goes past the outermost shell of Plastic. That being said, is this thing worth putting time and money into? My thoughts are that if the damage doesn't go though the outer layer, they structural integrity of the boat wouldn't really be compromised, and of course it won't leak?
2) if I'm going to keep the boat, it seems obvious i have to address the areas where the hull is damaged into the foam core. Iv read all about gflex and how to repair PE hulls, and i am comfortable using this technique if it is recommended. However i also have experience using "plastic welding" to repair a hobie kayak that was dragged from a trailer and had significant damage. In this case, I cut pieces from a 5 gallon HDPE pail from Lowes, and heated them on my gas grill while i hated the hull with a torch, i then applied them one at a time to rebuild the stem of the boat, then faired with sandpaper. I consider this repair to be successful as it has held up for 5 years of moderate use, and I'm wondering if anyone knows if the same technique would be viable on the old town hull.
