Hey troops!!
Firstly, good luck to everyone going to the Carona on the weekend!! Wish i was going with!!
Secondly, Snapped a paddle on the weekend, which pissed me off. Have one left to last until atleast Feb next year. Dont think it will judging where i surf...
Surfing the left...
Paddle got caught in some coral (well atleast i think it did) when i got smashed over reef on saturday and snapped. Is there any chance it can be repaired, and if so how. Dont have access to a shop here so will have to repair on my own. Have access to some glass and resin though....
Cheers and thanks for your help
Matt
For an Island style repair , put a neat fitting timber dole inside about 200mm long , glue that in and let it dry , then sand some shaft back and glass over it. You will find the kevlar furs up when you sand it (can't stop this) it will get messy.
If you can get your hands on some electrical tape , start at the top of the shaft and neatly wind the tape down over the repair (overlapping) this will pull everything flat and push the resin into the voids , cut it off neatly just past the repair and wipe of the excess resin. Let it dry and you are away don't remove the tape just leave it on.
If you cut yourself your Kialoa paddle, you can repair it with the remaining shaft piece, if it is ~ 6".
It cut it in half lengthwise, sanded rough the shaft and internal parts, and glued the parts in front and read in a vice with slow-curing araldite. The goal is to resist efforts lengthwise relative to the shaft. I think you could use a glue that stays somewhat flexible for best results.
fill any holes to make it waterproof.
Then find some tape with absolutely no stretch (I used sailcloth repair tape, 2 to 3 meters should be OK), we will use it to exert a constant pressure on the 2 halves we glued on to keep them pressed on the shaft even during shaft bendings in use. Glue one end to the repair, wait for curing.
Sand bumps.
Then wrap the cloth around the repair under tension (I attached the other end of the rope to a cord passed through a pulley on ceiling with a 10kg weight at the end. Glue the end of the tape and let cure, still under tension (no need to glue the middle part). Sand bumps.
Wrap some electrical tape around it for protection, and you are done. You have a lightweight repair that stays flexible. I have been using my paddle for 6 months with no sign of problems.
Only drawback is that it creates a bump onm the shaft, unconfortable if it is where you put your hand normally.
Thanks for a few handy tips. I think they are all very good ideas.
I would also explore the option of a new shaft, after the repairs.
That shaft is glass/carbon braid so there will be no kevlar "fluffing up" I agree with the repair methods suggested , glue an internal sleeve in place to support the break .let it cure and then grind/glass the damaged area with epoxy resin and whatever cloth fibre you have (DO NOT USE Chop Strand Mat with epoxy resin)
edited to say that polyester resin /glue will not be the best bond but it may get you out of trouble in the short term.
Did a trip to that region last year and I can understand why it would break paddles! Some good waves to be had though. The rivermouth at the town near by would be crazy for SUPping. Send thru some more pics Matt!
