Oru Fairing Repair

I enjoy tinkering and fixing things.  My latest project was patching the ends of my kayak.  It's the first Oru design - the neoprene fairings (end caps) don't have binding (like my sister's kayak) nor the extra reinforcement of the current fairing design.  One end was very frayed around the strap and the other end was starting to shred.

I need to stop the fraying before the strap pulls away from the neoprene.  My sister's fairings were not ripping along the strap, but are developing holes where the neoprene rubs against a pair of large screws.  Mine would eventually have that problem, too. 

Simply stitching the rips on either side of the strap (above) was not going to be lasting fix. I considered leather for reinforcement before selecting a heavy canvas.  We'll see how it wears over time.

The neoprene stretches over the end of the kayak.  I wanted to adhere the canvas to the neoprene in the position it would be when the kayak was assembled.  I decided to glue the canvas patch to the neoprene, then stitch it together.  I marked the end of the kayak where the fairing covered, then cut a piece of canvas to cover the end and the screws.  Taped the patch in place.  Then I marked inside the fairing where the canvas would cover and applied Barge cement to both pieces. 

 

Next was the tricky bit... pulling the glued neoprene over the canvas, without folding the neoprene on itself or touching the canvas before it was in position.  Barge cement sticks instantly to itself!  I managed to pull out a minor pucker, but it never completely smoothed out.

I let the fairing dry for a couple of hours.  Then I slipped it off (to make sure I hadn't glued it to the hull!), pulled off the tape, and inspected the patch.  Then I wrapped the end of the kayak in waxed paper and pulled the fairing back on to to let it finish curing.  I wanted it good and dry before stitching it.

Next morning I removed the fairing from the kayak, added a binding on the outer edge, and stitched down the rest of the canvas to the neoprene, especially where the cement didn't adhere all the way to the edge.  Not bad!  The canvas edges frayed more than I liked, so I bound the inside edges of the second patch before I taped and glued it.

This end had issues.  I don't know if I didn't tape the canvas down enough, or because the first patch went so easily I got sloppy.  The neoprene stuck to itself on the edge; then it must have touched the end of the canvas as I pulled it on.  When I did the check after an hour, I discovered the canvas was all puckered underneath.  Well, dang.  There was no undoing it - the neoprene would have given way before that glue let go.  Luckily, the patch covered what it needed to and doesn't appear to snag when I slip the fairing in place.

Once it had cured, I bound the neoprene edge and stitched down the outer edges of the patch.  I like this patch better - it would have looked better, too, if I hadn't caught the edges while gluing the pieces together.  I will use this design when I patch up my sister's fairings.  Just need to be much more careful when cementing the two pieces together! 

Overall, a success.  It takes a bit more effort to pull the fairing in place when assembling the kayak since the patch and binding don't stretch like the neoprene did.  At least I'm no longer worried that I'll rip the fairing apart, since the strap is glued and sewn to the reinforcement.  I hope to go kayaking this week, so I can see what it feels like in practice.