Has anyone reinforced the keel of their yaK?

Grumpy showed me a keel reinforcement he did with a 2 part adhesive he bought from SF Bay Canoe and Kayak, which is specifically made for this on canoes.  He did a nice job and it seemed bullet proof.  Send him a PM.

Not sure I got the name right on the canoe place.......it's that big place over in Richmond.

For gouges and stuff, i use the higher temperature heat gun glue.  Works like a charm if you warm up the surface first.  Usually I use the tip of the gun.  People think I'm a kook (Art), but I swear it works good.

Dave

 I used four or five layers of fiberglass cloth and regular fast setting resin. About the same size and placement as on scallen's kayak.
  Hard as a rock and no signs of failure after 4 years. Could be replaced in 20 minutes except for sanding off previous resin.
  You could go with kevlar and resin made specifically for polyethylene and that would cost money.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&&sa=X&psj=1&ei=RV9MTYfBIoqssAOzufSSCg&ved=0CBcQvwUoAQ&q=polyethylene+kayak+repair+resin&spell=1&fp=f441cba8a7737ba9

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=kayak+skid+plates&aq=f&aqi=g-v1&aql=&oq=kayak+skid+plates&psj=1&fp=f441cba8a7737ba9

   I take that last post back. My last kayak had ,like, eight layers,and lasted four years. This kayak has seen a year of the metal rasp Santa Cruz Harbor dock, with four layers,  and already it's worn thru. Very easy to add onto however. Maybe you could get some cheap kevlar scraps somewhere.

good infos!! thanks for the posts/replies.

For gouges and stuff, i use the higher temperature heat gun glue.  Works like a charm if you warm up the surface first.  Usually I use the tip of the gun.  People think I'm a kook (Art), but I swear it works good.

I used the DW hot glue method to fill holes and a small area that needed plastic filler when I changed the angles on my flush mount rod holders......turns out Dave is not as big a kook as previously suspected    the bond is good and it shaves flat pretty easily.

On fiberglassing polyethylene....I've been working with west systems epoxy resins and managed to epoxy a FG backing plate straight to the glass surface I was working on cause I got lazy and didn't wax first.....dummy   
If it sticks to glass it should bond decently to poly...I'm gonna experiment a little, my yaks have been taking a beating at the local ramps.

  Five days later. Repaired and ready for another year. Thanks, I hadn't noticed that it had wore that much.

I've been using dynamat from the Car Stereo shops. butyl? glue with aluminum backing. forms to yak by hand and is removable replacable. I carry a roll uf it in my kayak in case of cracks or holes in the water... also used in duct work, home depot sells it in rolls (not as tough as dynamat though) http://www.dynamat.com/store/store-auto.asp