# Can't Keep Water Out of my Kayak



## Jensjustduckie (Jun 29, 2007)

Buy a Jackson


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## reyher85 (Jul 29, 2008)

Jensjustduckie said:


> Buy a Jackson


For the time being lets just assume that I am broke as a you-know-what and buying any sort of new boat is out of the question.

I can however afford little things, like aquaseal and maybe dinner tonight.


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## miahski2 (Apr 29, 2007)

Bomber Gear makes a rim seal that really works. $12. Check it out online Bombergear.com his demo video shows him installing it on his jackson. Ten Mile Creek Kayaks in Frisco also carries Bomber Gear and the rim sealer.

I paddle a Riot Astro/Turbo and a Dagger Nomad, my skirt is a Bomber rubber rand and both my boats are virtual dry.....eventually I get a little leakage through my Dry Top.


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## jboats (Apr 5, 2006)

plumbing GOOP... Pull all bolts, clean surface, GOOP, and put screws back in tight.


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## Adayak (Apr 15, 2010)

Have you checked for leaks? Dry your boat out and then run a hose over it for awhile in different spots ... check inside to see if water is leaking through anywhere.


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## Theophilus (Mar 11, 2008)

If it's leaking into both boats probably sfae to assume it's not the boats but the skirt or maybe the way you are wearing the skirt. Do you layer in this order? -> top innertunnel, then skirt tunnel, then top outertunel?


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## johng (Apr 25, 2005)

I'd first try to figure out where the water is coming in. I've had problems with everything below:

1. Do you first feel wet around wrists or elbows -> wrist gaskets most likely, but could be dry top fabric. Put dry top over your head and look for light leaks, most likely at elbows. Hold wrists closed and fill sleeves with water and look for leads/seepage. Put a _little_ pressure on water (squeeze) and looks for leaks. I just sent back a dry top for repair/replacement that has what I consider extreme leakage in the fabric and seams - this top was only 3 yrs old and wetter than my > 10-yr old Stohlquist. For small holes/tears in dry tops, I've had really good luck with iron-on gore-tex repair patching fabric (get at REI or any good outdoor store) and aquaseal.

2. Waist wet (usually pile top feels soaked around waist/under skirt, but chest / sleeves dry) -> loose skirt/bad tunnel.

3. Drips on legs - probably pinholes in skirt. Hold up to sky and _stretch_ this and look for pinholes, usually over rim, where the skirt's been folded (e.g., stored crunched up), around base of tunnel. Fix with aquaseal. These can be very hard to see and insidious.

4. Around rim of sprayskirt. You'll probably feel on your legs first, but the boat will likely only lead (at least badly) when you surf or run vigorous rapids (i.e., may not leak when running easy white water).

5. Around bolt hole, cracks, etc - holes in boat. Water "appears" in boat. You can try partially filling the boat with water and looking for leaks, but just tightening all the bolts will usually fix this enough to be ignored. If you find a bad leak, it's probably easiest to loosen the bolt and put a ring of plumber's putty or silicone sealant around it and re-tighten. Wave Sport seems to have particularly poor quality control in boat assembly -- new boats show up with really loose bolts, and they constantly loosen while on the car or on the river. You could have an unidentified crack - look esp around the cockpit rim and this would explain it.

6. Finally, DWR treatment wasted. This only lasts a short time (less than a season) and once your fabric is saturated, you can't force vapor through it. So if you're playing and constantly re-wetting the fabric, and sweating much, it's like wearing a plastic bag. You can re-proof tops and it really helps for a while, but it's kind of a pain to do it. 

Seems like I always have leaks and am wet while boating. I'm jealous or Miah and others that somehow manage to stay dry!!

johng


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## reyher85 (Jul 29, 2008)

miahski2 said:


> Bomber Gear makes a rim seal that really works. $12. Check it out online Bombergear.com his demo video shows him installing it on his jackson. Ten Mile Creek Kayaks in Frisco also carries Bomber Gear and the rim sealer.


Has anyone had any issues with having their skirt pop off with this thing? I am leery of putting it on a creek boat...


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## reyher85 (Jul 29, 2008)

Theophilus said:


> If it's leaking into both boats probably sfae to assume it's not the boats but the skirt or maybe the way you are wearing the skirt. Do you layer in this order? -> top innertunnel, then skirt tunnel, then top outertunel?


Thats sort of what I thought as well but both of these boats are notorious for being leaky and I recently switched skirts... I have been using this SBD for maybe 10 days on the river now...its simple, but I am not dry.


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## Theophilus (Mar 11, 2008)

reyher85 said:


> Thats sort of what I thought as well but both of these boats are notorious for being leaky and I recently switched skirts... I have been using this SBD for maybe 10 days on the river now...its simple, but I am not dry.


Using a large cockpit skirt?


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## bobbuilds (May 12, 2007)

a few tips.

1. if your drytop is a few seasons old iron it on low and it should re-proof.

2. the rim tape is nothing special, you can get door and window seal at wally world or the home depot, fuck them both and support your local hardware store.

3. if your skirt is old, turn it inside out and snap it on your biggest cockpit boat. next obtain some silica based silicone and a few tounge depressors. lay out some beads all around the skirt and trowel it over evenly and thinly in a uniform layer.

just sayin....


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## reyher85 (Jul 29, 2008)

Theophilus said:


> Using a large cockpit skirt?


I am 90% sure, Yes I am using a large cockpit skirt. It is the proper one for both the crazy 88 and the jeffe. At least according to Idaho River Sports/IR


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## ir kara (Jun 14, 2010)

*for reyher85 re: can't keep water out of my kayak*

reyher85-
You have 2 boats with famously leaky cockpits. The SBD skirt, from our testing (up until now) is about as dry as it gets and it sounds like you have the right cockpit size. That Crazy 88 cockpit is impossible and some seem to be more dry than others. 
We just came out with a new skirt called the Klingon. It's a bungee skirt and similar to the SBD but easier to put on and even drier on the difficult cockpit rims. I'd be willing to send you one to try out. Let me know how it goes, and if you like it, send us the SBD and we'll just exchange. What do you think? Email me at [email protected] for shipping details and your tunnel size.


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## brenda (Aug 10, 2008)

If you want to know whether it is the boat...put them on a tarp when they are nice n' dry put a hose in them and fill them up. Let them sit a while and if there are drips on the tarp then your boats are leaking.
I paddle Jackson play and creek, and by the end of the day when I take my skirt off, I am totally dry.


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