Fixing ugly Yak scratches

  Ugly 07 Tarpon 140.  Lots of fine scratches.  When I check the net, they say to take a hair dryer to the boat and "melt" the finish to smooth it out.  Yikes,  Hard to imagine this working.  Anyone tried it?.  I need to do something or I'll have to wear a bag over my head when I go out.

A heat gun will do it. DO NOT OVERHEAT THE AREA! Or you will blow a hloe through the hull. I use a leather glove thats pretty thick. Using the heat gun pass over the rough area till you see the plastic scratches just start to melt then run your gloved habd over the area and smooth out the scratch. Disclaimer- dont over heat the area. Poster takes no responsibility for you making a hloe in your boat.

why even bother with the scratches?  just paddle it.

chicks dig scars! or is it "chicks dig cash"....I get that mixed up

chicks dig scars! or is it "chicks dig cash"....I get that mixed up

Both
 

Chuck's method works great all you need is an upside down Yak at a comfortable work height a 6 pak or bottle of wine and a large SS Serving spoon. Just rub the spoon back and forth on the scratches and it gets pretty hot and smooths out the scratches and polishes the hull. It takes awhile but the result is primo. I don't have the patience that Chuck does so I just stuck that sucker in my sawzall

 

 Don't worry to much about them.  The scratches add character like tiny badged of honor & courage.  Telling the world "I'm not a pavement pounder!"

Dude scratches are good. It shows people you are a season vet.

Jedmo

  Tried the torch.  The yellow intensified where I worked.   Still have scratches but more color on the surface.  I'll try the spoon tool.  Thanks.

I fill in deep gouges with hot glue gun.  I run the tip of the gun over a short area of the gouge to heat up the surface enough to make it receptive to the hot glue (which is polyethylene).  Then I squirt some in there, and as it cools trim with a paint scraper.  I don't even deal with cosmetic scratches.  For me, that would be like trying to bail out a lake.

the scratches on my yak are badges of honor, literal battle scars. My newest scratches are from where a 5' pissed off sevengill bit my yak.

Any ideas to get the dents from the bottom of my yaks that were caused by sittting on my racks. ?

i've heard that if you keep the weight off those spots for awhile that they will smooth back out. How big of a dent are you talking about?

On deep ones, use solarez.  It is an epoxy, costs about 25 bucks, and it is very easy.  Put it on in the shade, as it is activated by UV light.  Smear it on the scratch or small holes, and place a clear piece of packing tape over the adhesive.  Move to sunlight, cured in 3 minutes!  Remove tape and you are good to go!  I always have a tube in my truck, just not tape all the time, hit me up and I will show you how it works.  (my P-15 is like 90% this stuff!!  )

I got to try the bottle/spoon method.
I get the scratch fuzz off with an old razor, just shave it off.