[lennie]

This is my first year on the water and I have managed to find every rock in every river & creek I paddled. The Big E Z I bought new in June looks like it has seen six seasons of abuse. I hope to float a lot more water over time, but until I learn levitation to avoid the rocks, instead of colliding and scraping over them, is there a method of filling or repairing those nasty gouges? Like a P-tex candle for skies?
Should I even be concerned? Does filler affect the structure or strength of the plastic?

 

[gh]

Quit worrying about it.

 

[cstork]

welcome to front range creeks

 

[De la Boot]

No need to fill the gouges. Your hull will continue to get thinner and thinner, like the snow pack in spring. Just keep paddeling and scraping until one day the bottom of your boat splits and you and your gear submarine to the bottom. Then you can post a question about fixing your split hull. When that happens, look for the repair remedy that incudes duct tape, a lighter and an old spoon.
Sound strange?

Keep paddeling; you'll see. 8)

 

[spencer]

I think of myself as a guy who takes pretty good care of my gear. I always hang my wet boating gear to dry, I dry my snowboard after it comes off of the roof rack to prevent rusty edges, I always empty every drop of sand out of my tent before packing it away, I never leave my down sleeping bag in its stuff sack any longer than necessary, I use cedar inserts for my leather hiking boots, I disassemble and case my fly rod between every use, and I give my girlfriend sh*t when she doesn’t buckle her ski boots after taking them off.

My boats, however, are a completely different story. It took me almost a month last summer to figure out that someone had chucked the “other’ half of an Italian sub into my boat at a river festival; I figured my booties needed a bath. Boats are designed to be abused in a lot of different ways; rocks are just the beginning. The good news is that most, including your BEZ, are built to handle the abuse. You’ll recognize nirvana when you fill your boat with ice to keep your beer cold. Until then, take advantage of those wet rocks… and leave some plastic behind like your initials on a tree.

 

[double-a-ron]

gear is gear. If you don't use and abuse it, it will be out of date before you even get the dust off. Living in Crested Butte you quickly resign to a new pair of skis every year and duck tape as a primary source of insulation/waterproofing/windresistence/style. So, if you feel it necessary to fix little scrapes on your boat then the next time someone unloads a perfect boat remember that yours is getting used on a regular basis and that you should be thankful that it isn't sitting in a garage somewhere. The likelyhood of your boat being completely destroyed or out of date before those scrapes make any difference is high.

later
aaron