I get this question constantly, so I thought I’d answer it here with a demonstration. Before we get started though, understand that chances of you putting a hole in your skin on frame kayak while paddling are extremely rare. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but of the roughly 1500 Cape Falcon Kayaks that have been produced, I’ve only heard of four on the water punctures. Three were collisions with sharp submerged metal objects, and the last was a very heavy person hitting an oyster bed at full speed.
Still, the issue seems to weigh heavily on peoples minds, so I thought I’d take a moment to show what I’d do in the unlikely event. As you can see above, damaging the kayak is the hard part. I cut a hole below the waterline toward the bow of my own personal kayak with a sharp fillet knife to the maximum length of cut this type of repair should be used for, about 2 inches.
Next, I sand the surrounding area just until the weave starts to appear. This is extremely important, the Spirit Line 2 part polyurethane is both mechanically and chemically slick, meaning that without some mechanical grip, nothing will adhere to it. The far right edge of the hole is oversanded, the middle lower edge is about perfect.
Next, using the big curved needle from one of those ubiquitous drugstore needle kits, and an armspan of nylon upholstery thread doubled over, I stitch up the hole. The stitches are 1/8-3/16 inch from the edge of the seam, 1/8 inch apart. The pattern goes over one side, then dives under the other side, and up and over that side, then diving under at the seam. This is called a Baseball Stitch. Tie off however you feel is safe.
Next I coat the sanded area with Aquaseal. If you warm up the Aquaseal in your pocket it will be slightly more fluid and penetrate better. Then, using a stick, I reach inside the kayak and goop the inside of the seam with Aquaseal. If I were really paranoid, I might consider sanding the inside and gluing a small patch of the original skin material over it.
This is the first repair I’ve ever done on a skinboat skin, and I imagine that it’s not as strong as the original fabric, but I trust it. I have also covered a small hole (made accidentally with a chisel), with duct tape, which only took 30 seconds to do, and is still on the boat after 4 years. I make no claims that this is a good repair, and accept no liability if it doesn’t work for you. Skinboat holes are so rare that no one has much experience repairing them. As with any kayak, you should always have float bags and immersion protection.
