Thinking about painting my kayak....

Grant Lamontagne · **on:** June 01, 2018, 10:41:17 PM

My poor old battered fiberglass kayak isn't getting any better. I have been meaning to clean up the cracks and other issues it has, and I have to say that I think I am finally ready (almost) to do it. Of course, if I am going to go to the effort of fixing it up, I am not going to want to paddle it with patches all over it, so the next step will be painting it.

It was originally red, but you all seem to think it's pink, and as that has kind of become a bit of a running joke I figured I had best ask you all what you think- what color should it get painted?

It's definitely time to do something about it- if I don't do it soon, I won't have a boat left to fix, and painting is still a ways off, so feel free to give it some thought.

I was thinking a nice olive on the upper deck and keep the lower deck white because would go nicely with my Jeep, but then you usually want high viability colors because you want to be seen if things go badly. Yellow was my next choice, but I could go back to red with it as that would probably be the easiest rather than trying to go to a new color.

Thoughts?

Def

Don Pablo · **Reply #1 on:** June 01, 2018, 10:48:30 PM

Bright pink of course.

I like the idea of yellow to match your SAK.

Dutch_Tooler · **Reply #2 on:** June 01, 2018, 11:43:52 PM

The answer could depend on technical aspects... if your selected type of paint is likely to be able to cover a differently coloured substrate easily without too many coats, then you could choose any colour that strikes your fancy. If the opposite is true then you'd be better off with a colour that isn't too far away from the original, such as in the orange/red/pink range.

In any case, I'd aim to go for a high-visibility colour that contrasts with water or natural colours. So, no blues or camouflage, but rather day-glo or close to that. Red is OK under that perspective, or bright yellow.

SteveC · **Reply #3 on:** June 02, 2018, 12:24:35 AM

Red looks good

Syncop8r · **Reply #4 on:** June 02, 2018, 12:31:02 AM

Hot pink.

MadPlumbarian · **Reply #5 on:** June 02, 2018, 12:53:06 AM

Neon green! lol.. could always do a camo?
JR

I do have to say if you paint it yellow you got to do the one end like a green/Brown this way it will make it look like a banana!

twiliter · **Reply #6 on:** June 02, 2018, 01:12:01 AM

I vote red, maybe with a white maple leaf on the bow.

Or a 'plus sign' for 'positivity'...

Don Pablo · **Reply #7 on:** June 02, 2018, 01:16:26 AM

White plus on red background.... that sounds familiar.

Aloha · **Reply #8 on:** June 02, 2018, 01:46:02 AM

Quote from: Don Pablo on June 02, 2018, 01:16:26 AM

White plus on red background.... that sounds familiar.

Aloha · **Reply #9 on:** June 02, 2018, 01:46:48 AM

I vote red as well. Could you get a Swiss Army Knight decal?

MadPlumbarian · **Reply #10 on:** June 02, 2018, 02:29:37 AM

Here’s how’s this?
Red with a little white detail?
JR

Marc_in_NS · **Reply #11 on:** June 02, 2018, 04:02:39 AM

You live in Ottawa...the national capital...rainbow colour would be perfect!

Chako · **Reply #12 on:** June 02, 2018, 12:23:42 PM

Now, if I had to repair a Kayak that was mine and I had a lot of options, this is what I would do.

1. Paint the kayak the colours you mentioned. Olive on top and white on the bottom would look very good.
2. Get a shark teeth bow sticker or paint one on.

Like this...

3. I would continue with an aircraft theme...but with MT.O decals or emblems tastefully placed much like what you would see on a WW2 aircraft. Possibly copy the sheet metal and riveted look. Could even have little Victorinox/Wenger/Leatherman emblems for kills, etc.

Such a build could be fun and I think it would be eye catching. Maybe get some of that reflective 3M tape and make the boat a little more visible.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #13 on:** June 02, 2018, 02:49:55 PM

I really like the idea of putting the WWII type teeth on it, and I have to say that this isn't the first time I have considered doing that.

Def

Chako · **Reply #14 on:** June 03, 2018, 02:09:24 AM

Just imagine how menacing you will be paddling behind some strangers.

Whoey · **Reply #15 on:** June 03, 2018, 12:00:14 PM

EVH pattern

Pacu · **Reply #16 on:** June 03, 2018, 04:35:55 PM

Quote from: MadPlumbarian on June 02, 2018, 02:29:37 AM

Here’s how’s this?
Red with a little white detail?
JR

dks · **Reply #17 on:** June 03, 2018, 07:28:59 PM

We all know he will paint it pink in the end.....

Pacu · **Reply #18 on:** June 03, 2018, 08:18:15 PM

Quote from: dks on June 03, 2018, 07:28:59 PM

We all know he will paint it pink in the end.....

ironraven · **Reply #19 on:** June 04, 2018, 01:00:29 AM

Quote from: MadPlumbarian on June 02, 2018, 12:53:06 AM

Neon green! lol.. could always do a camo?

Yes! To both of these!

A camo pattern, but since everyone does earth tones, go the other direction. Something that they eye says "nope, not seeing that"- pattern made of up of hot pink, blaze orange and electric blue, maybe?

Yadda · **Reply #20 on:** June 04, 2018, 02:27:37 AM

Day Glow orange with navy blue end caps that slant toward the middle.

MadPlumbarian · **Reply #21 on:** June 04, 2018, 03:16:00 AM

Yeah, a glow in the dark! This way after a nice day in the sun and when your driving home everyone sees this glowing floating tube going down the highway, lol..
JR

RF52 · **Reply #22 on:** June 04, 2018, 07:17:46 PM

Bright pink with flakes

Sent fra min FRD-L09 via Tapatalk

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #23 on:** June 20, 2018, 01:11:57 PM

I started work on my kayak yesterday and found out that the huge patches that have been on it since before I bought it were more overkill than I'd thought. Don't get me wrong, the damaged bits are bad, but nowhere near as bad as one would expect from the giant patches.

For example, these are some Before pics of the patch.

The worst part is that they were applied with epoxy resin instead of polyester resin, and so they are flaking and chipping off in places. I have had more than a few shards of it stick into my hands and arms when moving the boat over the years. That is sort of the main reason for me doing this in the first place.

After sanding the patch down, this is what it looks like.

As the patch goes over both the upper and lower decks I assumed it was broken all the way across. It's still a hell of a hole, but it's nice to know that it isn't as bad as it could have been. The same goes for this patch, just a few inches aft of the one above.

It's not the best Before pic because there's a strap over it, but you can see that it doesn't look any better than the first one. After sanding and cleaning it up though you can see that it isn't as bad as it initially appears to be.

I had been looking forward to doing some more work on it today, but unfortunately I have to take the day off due to the injury I have been ignoring that doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Still, it is nice to have finally made some progress. Originally this was a $3,000+ boat that I picked up for less than $300- and that's $3,000 US, and $300 Canadian, so that really is a hell of a deal! But, with these horrific looking patches all over it, they were lucky to get even that much. Hopefully when I am done it will look more like the $3,000 boat it once was!

Def