Quick and Easy Kayak Repair

I have an old hand-me-down kayak that has been leaking and taking on water.  What to do?  I saw some instructables that showed melting a new piece of plastic onto the yak.  Too complicated!  I needed a quick fix with minimal time and effort.

1.  Heat gun
2.  Duct tape (gorilla tape is really sticky and thick)
3.  Paint thinner
4.  Putty knife
5.  Sand paper
6.  Plast Dip

Using the heat gun, make a general sweep over the area.  (Don't warm it too much, you will start to see the plastic melt.)  Then using the putty knife and sand paper, scrape off any dirt or crud.  My old yak had a previous repair that I had to clean off.  Lastly, wipe the area down with paint thinner so it's nice and clean for the next step.

Apply duct tape to cover the area of repair.  Gently use the heat gun and putty knife to push the tape into all the contours so you get a good seal.

Add more layers of tape, but change the orientation a bit.  I just rotated 45 degrees and tried to overlap the strips.  Again, use the heat gun and putty knife to get a good seal.

Keep adding tape layers while changing the orientation everytime.  I added five layers in total.

Finally, spray on the plasti dip to cover the repair area.  I applied one layer every 4 hours.  I used the whole can of plasti dip in the process (three applications.)

I let the whole thing sit overnight, so everything was good and cured.

I ran the kayak for two full days on the Frio River and it worked great! 

***This is not a permanent fix, and I don't paddle in rapids or in water over 6 foot.  If I need to reapply layers of plastic dip next year, I'm okay with that.