Back around 2001, my friend Rob had a strip built tandem sea kayak built for him by Scott Dollmeyer. The boat, a Bear Mountain Reliance, was launched in June of 2001. I've actually found one reference on this board about it, http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/Archive40.pl/noframes/read/48417. Rob and his wife used the boat a bit before life intervened (kids, several moves, etc). For much of the past decade, the kayak has been sitting on the side of the house; time and elements have taken their toll on the boat. I've made an agreement with Rob where, in exchange for me refinishing the boat I can borrow it for a minimum of one year.

I have no experience really working with fiberglass, let alone repairing it, so I'm not really sure what I've gotten myself into. I'll post some pictures of the specific areas of trouble, but it looks like some of the fiberglass has come delaminated in spots. In other spots it looks like the wood under the fiberglass has water damage. I'd really rather not get into replacing strips, but I would like to bring back as much of the original beauty as I can. I gave the boat a good scrubbing today and was able to get it looking somewhat like it used to, well at least until it dried off.

I've attached a picture of the kayak right after washing. The next couple of posts will address the major trouble spots. I'd appreciate any help and advice you may have to offer. It will likely be a couple of months before I can start physically working on it due to work (I work on ships and can't bring the kayak with me), but I'd like to at least develop a good game plan and gather the information and tools I'll need to get the job done.

Here's a pic right after its bath today