C-Forum

Has any one had a problem with their new Mohawk gunwales cracking/shattering?
I have a 2 year old Viper 11 royalex, new from the factory, and the gunwales have cracked in 4 places. At first one crack didn't bother me as it is an aggressive boat and I am an aggressive paddler but as 3 more showed up I figured out that in three of the breaks the plastic material was cracking where the boat rests on the rack and one is in the middle of the gunwale length. Actually the cracks are more like total fracturing, as if the material is weak. This is my 3rd Viper and 4th Mohawk boat and I have never had or heard of this problem before. I just use tape straps into a cam buckle to secure the boats to the rack, about the kindest weight distributing system around.
As to experience I am a long time paddler and have seen a lot of problems but this "a new to me". If you reply to me I can send photos.
Any comments, similar experiences. Thanks

Have you contacted Mohawk? Seems like the right place to start. To answer your question - haven't heard of that before.

I don't really know about that problem and I haven't seen it... but I'd probably agree with you that if you're treating it the same way as you've treated your other boats, then there is probably something wrong with that specific boat's gunwales, either a material or molding problem that just makes them brittle. Again I can't offer much insight on how much or what will break a plastic gunwale but if you have a bunch of experience and you've never seen it before-- it's probably a defect. Getting in touch with Mohawk might indeed be the best idea.[/list]

I have sent an email into Mohawk with accompanying photos asking that they ship me gunwales at their expense and I will put them on at my time and expense. I'll let you know how that goes.
I rechecked the thickness of the gunwales before starting temporary patch up and they are definitely thin and fragile in my experience. To hold the loose pieces together I injected SikaFlex 291 into the channels and will let that cure for 24 hours.
In 12 years of paddling and 10 different makes and models of tripping and ww canoes I haven't had this problem before, I just thought I would post it out there for similar experiences. Thanks

I will check that out as soon as I go in 2maro. Havent seen but a couple of our gunwals brake. Me and Alex have both broke a rail but it was aftr being pinned.

Nice of you to air your problems on a public forum before even talking to the manufacturer first.

You are right, I am wrong. My curiosity lead me to post a question and to email Mohawk in the same afternoon session. After purchasing 4 of Mohawks products, 3 of them of the same hull design, I have made an mistake and the majority of replies support your opinion. I apologize to you and to Mohawk. I like both of my Viper 11s. I would like to end the discussion on this topic.

Mr.DeadLegs wrote:Nice of you to air your problems on a public forum before even talking to the manufacturer first.

You're say that like it's a bad thing.

So long as he doesn't start slagging mohawk off unduly before they've had a chance to rectify the situation, then he's not being unreasonable asking if others have seen this problem.

This item has been quickly dealt with by Greg at Mohawk, we are both happy. Good company, happy customer.