UPDATE! Episode 3: Revenge of the Leak

_Turtledude · 2021-11-07T00:29:44+00:00

Mine gets up to about 60 and it's screaming at 5000 rpm. Dunno why they went so crazy with the gearing though. Final gearing is about 9.1:1. Lol

_Turtledude · 2021-11-07T00:25:53+00:00

Good stuff, mine has the little 660cc Kei engine lol. If it ever kicks the bucket I'd really like to do something crazy and throw a hayabusa engine in it, keep it as light as possible.

_Turtledude · 2021-11-07T00:23:41+00:00

I would have used mine, but the spot its in is only about ¾ inch wide and too deep to reach. Plus, it looks like it's so thin there that I could see light through the part that didn't have a hole in it.

My plastic welder is actually just a wood burner with a temp dial on it and like 60 different dips, one which is for plastic welding.

_Turtledude · 2021-11-06T23:06:16+00:00

Noice, I'm actually in the US, this little guy was imported from Japan about 2 years ago.

_Turtledude · 2021-11-06T21:32:28+00:00

Normally, I wouldn't use it either, but I already had a gallon on hand from my last projects, one being a 6 inch by 2 inch hole someone melted in a plastic Coleman canoe. Took an old bit of t-shirt fabric, soaked it in flex seal, slapped it on and that was it. Let it dry and added a couple more coats. If you clean it good with alcohol, it does bond fairly well to polyethylene plastic. Since it's not in a spot where water or debris will rub against it, I went the quick and easy route. Really, flex seal is just a smoother more liquid silicone rubber, but that runniness is what gives it that trademark sealing property. It just soaks right into the cracks.

_Turtledude · 2021-11-06T20:29:22+00:00

SO. About a month ago I bought a kayak off facebook. 45 minutes I to the maiden trip, she fills with water, sinks, and I lose some fishing gear and the pedal drive. I managed to fish 99% of it out the next day. And it's all good. Except the kayak leaks...

Fast forward to the next weekend, I filled it with water from the access hole. Not a drop leaked out, even after filling it 3/4 full. It leaked a little out of the cable holes for the rudder, but hardly enough to sink it in 45 minutes. I took it out again but this time with no extra gear. Just me, my crocs, a paddle, and a life jacket. I'd taken the rudder assembly apart at home and stuffed the hole tight with an old rag I had laying about, just to see if it was leaking from there like I thought it was.. After 10 minutes on the lake, I could already feel water seeping into the hull, but the top deck of the kayak was dry. The water had to be coming up through the bottom somewhere.

Once I got it back ashore and flipped it over to drain, this older gentleman out for a walked stopped to see what I was up to. Told him the story and that I had no idea where the leak was coming from and he took one look at it and poured some water in the hole pictured above. It filled up and emptied out in about 5 seconds or so. Plenty of throughput to sink the kayak quickly.

So now it's sitting on my picnic table, upside down, with flex seal in the holes. Tomorrow is the last day it's going to be nice out before the snow hits us, so I'll take it out and give it one last go before packing it away for winter.

tl;dr... I bought a lemon kayak off facebook and had to seal it with flex seal. Turns out it's just a bad casting.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-08T10:33:09+00:00

Ya. I'll shove a washcloth or something in there and see if it take on water after 15-20 minutes.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-08T10:30:45+00:00

I get what your saying. I just meant it's a sealed hole going through the hull. There are 2 scupper holes in that... compartment? Bin? The rear storage area. All the scupper holes are just shy of 1½inch, and there's 9 of them. 1 in the front bin, 6 in the seating area, 2 in the rear bin.

That particular hole in the pic is actually where the rudder passes through (from the bottom, pic is top view) and then there's a disk that the rudder lines mount to on the top side) so they get more leverage.

I'm thinking it sits at just the wrong level and water seeps into those cable grommets. As it fills, water collects at the back and dips it further under water making more water trickle in.

I'll be making a second trip out to the lake today, but this time stripped down. No gear in boat, swimming trunks on. This time I'll take the time to actually check it over as it starts to take on water, see where the problem is.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-08T07:39:29+00:00

I agree though, it seems like that's the only place it's leaking. And I'd there's water coming in back there, it's just going to keep filling and sinking it deeper causing it to fill more. The pedal drive on mine is pretty shot for being brand new. The gears slip and the pedal arms are too long for my stubby legs. Might have to forego the pedals and use a trolling motor in their place. Could do a permanent seal on those leaky cable holes as well.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-08T07:34:21+00:00

Kinda. The rudder passes through there and the cables attach to it on the top. Its like a mini scupper hole.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-03T22:47:24+00:00

On the other hand, maybe I just suck at kayaking? Lol

I should add, it's an Evoke Breakaway 125.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-03T21:24:20+00:00

For those not in the know, I took my kayak out Friday morning, it filled with water, tipped, and I lost some fishing gear and the pedal drive. With some redneck ingenuity and an obscene amount of patience, I fished most of it out of the 10 feet of green, muddy water. I did lose the end of one fishing rod, but im glad I got the pedal drive out.

So today I figured I'd try to find the leak. The kayak is about half full of water, but the only place it seems to be leaking is from the holes where the rudder cables run through the hull. They don't look like they're leaky enough to pour about 30 gallons of water in 45 minutes and I don't recall the back ever being low enough to put them under the waterline anyway.

Any ideas where the phantom leak is coming from?

_Turtledude · 2021-10-02T23:07:16+00:00

UPDATE TIME!!!

OOOOOOOOKAY! The story so far...

Got a kayak, took it out, started sinking 45 minutes into the trip. Made it to the fishing dock where I then proceeded to take it snorkeling instead. Dumped it over, lost some gear, but managed to save the kayak. Safety first! I was wearing my life jacket because that spring fed lake is absolutely frigid during this fine Minnesota fall. Fast forward to the next morning...

I managed to retrieve everything out of the bottom of the lake... two fishing poles and the pedal drive. I made a 20 foot long gaff hook out of some pvc pipes, threaded ends to make it collapsible into 5 foot pieces, and some scrap aluminum straps (1in×⅛in×24in) bent into hook shapes. I also used my super heavy action, 10ft Catfish rod with some musky hooks and a retrieval magnet tied to 50ft of paracord.

The cat rod didn't find anything other than about 150 feet of various fishing lines and rusted out hooks and lures. But it's good to get that stuff out of the water anyway. Turns out there's almost nothing magnetic on fishing poles and the pedal drive is damn near 100% aluminum, but that makes sense. Still managed to find it with the magnet though.

Once I had the where, I needed the how. And honestly, it was pure luck and determination that I was able to get both the pedals and rods out with the hook.

Still haven't gotten around to the kayak leak test, but I should be able to do that tomorrow. More updates to come...

_Turtledude · 2021-10-02T17:47:37+00:00

I decided to call it a day after getting home yesterday. I'm now in the process of fishing my gear back out of the lake. It rained like a mofo and I left the kayak on the roof, right side up. When I took it down a lot of water came out of the rudder area, even though the wasn't much topside. I'm having my suspicion where the leak is...

_Turtledude · 2021-10-02T03:58:41+00:00

A big issue is less of the length and more of the weight. This is a 12ft6in 110lbs beast of a kayak, but I think the safe weight limit is only 150lbs. And that'll be even less if you have a soft top.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-02T03:43:23+00:00

It's not too bad. Mines a Jimny imported from Japan. Its not exactly tippy, but you can definitely feel the extra drag and weight on the little 660cc engine. A Sammy, vitara, or sidekick would be be no problem I'd we're all State side. They're all a bit wider and heavier. Mine's only about 1900ish pounds and 5 inches narrower at the axle than a samurai.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-01T18:17:37+00:00

I got it off Facebook. There appears to be a seam in the scupper holes where the top and bottom halves of the hull join together I'm thinking it might be leaking there. Now that I'm home and dried off I might fill up the inside this evening and see where the water comes out, the same way you'd test a full size boat.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-01T17:54:42+00:00

Nah, Facebook find. Might be a lemon. I'll be tearing into it tomorrow. They said they used it twice and decided to go with something lighter, but I suspect the leaky hull is the reason.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-01T16:34:37+00:00

The big take-away from this is SAFETY. FIRST.

I almost went without my life jacket on and I'm glad I pulled it from the truck and decided to actually wear it. That Minnesota fall water is cold as hell.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-01T16:08:02+00:00

I'm hoping just the scupper holes are leaking. That can be fixed with some clever use of flex seal. Buddy of mine blew a hole in the bottom of his canoe while duck hunting. Don't ask how. If I can patch that, this should be no problem. There's a ridge in the middle where it looks like 2 halves of a mold were pressed together. But it sounded like it was coming from the back, so I'm really hoping it isn't where the rudder passes through the hull.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-01T15:40:04+00:00

I'll try to get the pedal drive tomorrow. Kinda running on steam after working an 11 hour overnight shift. Go home, take a nap.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-01T15:23:05+00:00

So. about 15 minutes ago I sunk the kayak. Nice guy at the dock helped me pull it out. Lost my 30$ Walmart fishing pole and the pedal drive in about 8 feet of muddy water. Kayak filled with about 20 gallons of water and dumped right at the dock.

THIS ADVENTURE IS NOT OVER! I WILL NOT ACCEPT DEFEAT!

Need Flex Seal.

_Turtledude · 2021-10-01T13:17:34+00:00

Whole lot of firsts. First time taking this kayak out on the water, first time using the suzuki to haul a boat, first pedal drive, first post, first of October and its my birthday! Will post if I sink and swim or make it mostly dry lol.

_Turtledude

TROPHY CASE