Repair Advice

Got my new/second hand ski (V10 Sport Performance) home and decided to try and polish a few of the marks off as it had spent its life in a club house and looked liked it had been knocked around a bit. I was told at the time of purchase that the drain cover had been chipped and it was pointed out. It seems as though it was dropped as there is a little crack in the footwell side of the drain.

I had half expected to find a few other chips when polishing it as I always do when polishing the car. I only found one that I didntsee when looking over the ski which stopped me from going paddling tomorrow as it looks as though its not water tight.

There's also a couple of small chips at either end which I think are only cosmetic but as they are on the black tips they stand out like dogs balls.

One of the pins that you pull out to adjust the footplate is jammed in. I get the idea that the ski wasnever washed down after use and the salt water has jammed the pin.

I'm looking for a little advice.
-Any of these issues seem like a big deal to you? I'm hoping that its just a matter of sealing up any damage that will let water in. Again I'm hoping that the damaged drain cover is not "structural"
-Should I attempt repairing any or all of these things myself?
-whats the best way to free up stiff or locked up foot plate adjuster? WD40?
-If I were to just use resin to seal the damage to prevent any more water going in what type should I use and where can I get it from? Bunnings?

Being a performance layup does this change what I'd used to seal it?

(Infusion grade foam core, Composite hybrid of fiberglass, carbon fiber, and Kevlar, Vacuum infused, heat-cured epoxy)

Thanks

Hi shady, I would recommend getting it fixed by someone that knows what they're doing. It looks like minor damage but by the time you bought the gear to do the repairs you probably wouldn't save much money. An expert could fix this in a flash.

If you can find someone that has the epic colours than the repairs would be barely noticeable.

In the meantime I'd just put a bit of duct tape over the crack and chip and paddle it but would not venture too far from shore and stay in flat water in case there is more damage than there appears or the crack gets worse.

As for the frozen pin, WD40, hot water, a little force (but not too much), ??

Thanks GH,

I've done a quick search for recommended repairers but couldnt find anything except a few posts that seem like ads rather than good experoences.

Anyone recommend the services of a good ski repairer in Sydney (North/West or Northern Suburbs).

Thanks

Hi Shady - I'd highly recommend Andrew Divola (Divola Boats) in North Manly. Andrew has done repairs for me a number of times as well as for many of the people I paddle with.

Thanks JOS,

I called the guys at Epic this afternoon and was given Andrews contact details as their "authorized repairer". So I called him, had a chat and will take the ski over to him early next week.
It's good to know he does a good job. Thanks again.

Looking at the photos it does not really look like much. But do look through the drain hole to check all internal stuff is where it is supposed to be and not sliding around the hull. You may also see through there if you look carefully, hidden damage (I've seen delaminations in the layup caused from tight straps when car-topping a ski - with no sign of that from the outside).

The chip on the hull where you see the fabric needs to be repaired soon, provided the fabric is exposed and not just the gell coat missing. If it is just the gell coat missing and the fabric is still well covered with epoxy, it is not a big deal as it is still watertight, but repairing it sooner rather than later is better. If the surrounding gell coat is good (e.g., you can't chip it off with your nail easily), and if you don't care much about appearances, you can just smoosh some epoxy on the spot and paint with white touch-up auto paint... If the gell coat comes off easy, then I'd say chip-off till you get to a point where you can't easily remove it, then repair the entire area.

The tiny marks on the nose look like just the front sticker is worn off. Purely cosmetic, if you can confirm that is indeed the case and there is no damage to the hull.

The crack on the inside of the foot well by the drain can be nothing or can be serious. You don't want a leak there, but you also do not need to worry needlessly. I've seen other Epic skis, with no damage otherwise, but with small cracks in that same area - Epic uses some sort of gell coat there that seems to be cracking for no good reason and without actual underlying damage with the ski perfectly watertight. But I've seen a ski without apparent damage and still leaking water by the drain (hidden damage with water seeping by the tube). I had a similar but slightly smaller such crack on my almost brand new Epic ski but mine was watertight - I put some super glue on it to make sure it remained so and a bit of touch-up paint (as glue and epoxy generally get yellow with sun esposure) and it has not been an issue for the past almost 2 years now.

The chipped area on the bottom of the ventury cover again is mostly cosmetic - touch-up paint will fix it if you like or leave it. The cover there has a thick gell coat on it - as long as it seems watertight it should be fine...

Thanks for all the advice.

I ended up taking the ski to DiVola Marine at Manly Vale partly because when I rang Epic they said DiVola is their authorized repairer but more importantly because I had several people recommend Andrew DiVola.

I picked up the ski this afternon and was very impressed with the result. I was not able to tell that there had been any damage to the ski at all. He even touched up the little chips on each end and went over the whole ski with a buffer. It now looks a million bucks..

I'd be happy to recommend his services to anyone.