Paddle board frustrations and fix

One of the joys of living right next to the sea on a large sheltered Moalboal bay in Cebu are the great weather and easy access for water sports, kayaking, diving, sailing, and paddle boarding right out of the gate.

20180524 16.29.35.jpg

To get the most out of living here, a couple of years ago, while on weekend break to Bangkok, as a birthday present to me I purchased an NSP 11'6" Allrounder inflatable paddle board and it really has been a lot of fun paddle boarding up and down the coast.20180601 10.22.16.jpg
Anyhow, shortly before lockdown in March while washing down the board I noticed that I had an issue with the fin box, cracks at both ends had appeared, probably caused by the board flexing. 20200807 10.14.36.jpg
Bit of a close up of the problem.20200807 10.06.11.jpg
My worry was that the cracks will allow the fin box to flex and that I would lose the fin if I caught it while out boarding so something did need to be done. For now my boarding days were over. Lockdown was looming so no big rush anyway.
There were a couple of options, ok 3 that I could think of.
1, PRO fix. Send or take the board back to Bangkok and get NSP to do the repair, Probably the best option but sending the board back was going to be problem with the current Covid travel restrictions.
2, DIY fix. cut out the fin box and re glue a new one in, but I'm not convinced my PVC gluing skills are up to it.
3, Finally bodge it. Look for a way to reinforce the cracked ends. This was was the one I went for in the end.
One of the joys of having a 3D printer handy is you can make all sorts of handy things. 20200807 13.25.30.jpg
In this case, I set about designing some reinforcing blocks for the end of the fin box, It did take a few goes as the tolerances and shape turned out to be quite complicated but I got there in the end.20200807 10.22.12.jpg
Along with a couple of wedges to ensure the bolt was straight and I was good to go.20200807 10.28.00.jpg
A splodge of epoxy glue, a bit of righty tighty on the nuts with stud through the centre and we're done.
20200807 10.26.38.jpg
The cracks have pulled up the fin fits a treat, it's all looking great.20200807 10.46.09.jpg
I really can't wait to get back out on the water with @scubahead for a bit of exercise ;) 20180627 15.39.235.jpg

End of todays bit of Hiveory, must be time for a beer.

H2
H3
H4
3 columns
2 columns
1 column
Join the conversation now