Trailering can be hard on a kayak

 As a guide for an outfitter, you have to get your kayak to the beach along with all the customer kayaks.  At our company that means that my personal kayak rides on the trailer with the tandems that we use for the customers.

It seems that when you transport your kayak on a trailer which is loaded by non-kayakers, some tend to over tighten things way too much.  This results in problems like cracked gelcoat, a cracked fiberglass bulkhead and a hatch rim which separates from the hull.

Last April, I replaced the hatch rims on my 2001 Romany.  This year I am reattaching the rear hatch rim.  Last year two new hatch rims were attached to the hull using Sikaflex 221.  The front hatch rim is still solidly attached and watertight.  The rear hatch rim gradually wound up partially separating from the hull during the summer.  It started out as watertight but gradually I would get more and more water on each trip.  It was obvious that the hatch rim was no longer fully attached to the hull and I was also able to pull it off the hull.

For what it's worth Gorilla Tape made a great patch for the crack in he bulkhead.  The day hatch was dry after I figured out that there was a crack in the bulkhead and taped over it.

To get my Romany ready for the summer, I am going to:

1. Do a little fiberglass repair to the bulkhead between the cockpit and the day hatch
2. Replace missing gelcoat on the deck seam
3. Reattach the back hatch rim
4. Apply a KeelEazy keel strip (nothing to do with trailering)

Now I am wondering if 3M 4200 is the better choice or Sikaflex 221 for reattaching the hatch rim.  I reattached a hatch rim on my 1996 Explorer with 3M 4200 in 2014 and haven't had problems since.  I am thinking that it will be sufficient to use Sikaflex 221 and not let my kayak ride on the outfitter's trailer any more.  Unfortunately neither adhesive is locally available, so off to the internet...