C-Forum

not as durable as vinyl, but protects from uv and easy to reapply. neither provides strength. I have been using rustoleum painters tough mostly because it is readily available, inexpensive and comes in colors close to coordinating with boats I have so patchwork not too obvious. any plastic paint wil...

pictures look like no more than vinyl skinned off. If that's the case, there is no structural issue, trim off the what's loose and paint the bare abs for uv protection. any spray paint suitable for plastic ok for structural repairs, I have had best luck using gflex for cracks, pc7 to fill dents unde...

ovation by reputation is slow and you likely will outgrow it quickly as your skills progress. ocoee is a design which has survived for decades in royalex and other materials for good reason. It will test you as a beginner, but as you progress will take you anywhere you want to go. I have a Bell vers...

its just clear plastic tubing available many places, including Lowes if it has the right diameter. some bags use a smaller diameter inserted in the base rather than fitting over it which is more common. I have salvaged pieces of the larger diameter, maybe some new, if you can't find it anywhere else...

both acetone and mek will dissolve vinyl given age of genesis, if dring mounting plates are rectangular grey hard plastic I think they were usually mounted with construction adhesive, best to cut or grind them out. I have salvaged some out of encores by carefully tapping a putty knife through adhesi...

agree with advice offered by others. I and friends I winter paddle with regularly have used both NRS and Kokatat drysuits for the most part. NRS are a reasonable choice especially if bought on sale, but will not last as long as Kokatat which we are all using now (goretex with socks and relief zips)....

old 6' mohawk bags are slightly more than enough to bag my encore with mohawk saddle tight, so 5' should come close to filling an outrage which is 16" shorter and narrower. John

I have used both slurry and sheet abs in combination with gflex and other materials. many patches on many boats of my own and for others. best combination for has been formed sheet abs glued on with goop over some filler (gflex, pc-7, layers of goop etc) if needed so there are no voids. better impac...

looks like could be repaired with sheet abs patches so that it would last long enough for you to figure out whether you want to do this. would take some time, but works. I am sometimes paddling a Dagger ocoee which was in worse shape than this when it was given to me, and its held up to some rocky r...

I also have not tried ABS slurry, but have done ABS patches glued with goop over cracks fixed with gflex which have outlasted boats, and in some cases gflex alone has worked well and proved durable. what to do depends a lot on length and location of crack. ABS sheet material needs to be formed and p...

not directly responsive, but I have 2 old, battered, ugly, but patched and watertight solo whitewater boats needing new homes - viper 11 and whitesell whirlwind. whirlwind in particular might be a good boat as a test for what you seem to be interested in - about the same length as vertige, round hul...

I have a caper and 2 encores (not my first), and once spent 2.5 weeks in a caption on Snake River, Yukon. I'm 5'9", 175, own and have paddled a variety of solo boats (mostly encores and vipers), currently challenged by first ocoee. thoughts Caption design followed caper, and its is a better boat. fi...