Can you get scratches off?

Is there any way to smooth the bottom of my kayak without damaging the finish I'm thinking aboute using wet Sandpaper or something similar

Not really.

Sanding it will do more harm than good.

I've heard of people using an iron but havent done it myself. Mine is looking like it has been used

BP has is right IMO. I've wondered & asked the same thing myself.
Products like this will help smooth the bottom of your yak.
Mine are all rashed up too.

Also if you have the skills and cajones you can use a torch to melt the curled up plastic back down. This takes a quick hand & certainly helps if you have experience with plastics. Some have done it with success. I personally have not attempted it but would if it was real bad. Thats why i try not to look at the underside of the yak. Just makes me think too much but & be paranoid. Surfers n snow boarders use wax to increase performance also.

It seems contrary, but a smooth surface does NOT make it go faster. Leave it rough. You can use most any heat source to take off the fuzzies

I agree. The performance you gain won't make up for the damage you could do from sanding it. You want performance do what Zombie said and add sex wax.

Thanks for all the quick replies guys I wasnt worried about performance I just wanted to make it look a little better but I'll be sure not to sand it down and I don't have the cajones to use a torch so I'll just leave it as is but I might try some wax to improve performance. But has anybody tried an iron

Just think of those scratches as mementos of good times.

I googled it earlier and found some good information.

I got rid of most my scratches with a heat gun.

Melt it down & start all over.

razor blade can skim some if they are light scratches

scratches add character.....and fish dig scars! Leave it be and get out on the water!!!

Yeah!!!

My new kayak seems to get scratches every time I go out. I understand my dealer (ACK) will repair those dings and scratches.

I try to not worry about it. I guess I have to expect it when plastic meets rock and concrete. Good question tho and appreciated the responses.

I enjoyed Zombie's photo too. The guy reminds me of some of my in-laws and their ideas. lol

The wax for surf boards goes on top to create a non slip surface.

Isn't life funny ... You wax snow skis to reduce friction and wax surfboards to increase it.

...and u can surf a yak without wax :-p

I swear I could scratch mine with my finger nail, anyone noticed this on their coosa or maybe I just beat the cheet outa mine.

Long before I fished from a kayak, I fished, and I kayaked. Completely seperately...I guess it took a stroke of genius to combine the two, right?

Anyway, my kayaking was, for the most part, all whitewater related. Whitewater boats (the same rotomolded 'tupperware' as a fishing yak) take a *brutal* thrashing. They are banging and scraping down every run they make. Rotomolded plastic is ridiculously durable. There isn't a fishing kayak out there that gets punished like a whitewater boat. If your concern with the scratches is that they'll compromise the integrity of the hull...don't worry about it.

Sure, it scratches easily, and once its broken in, its going to have a patina of scratches to show off - but they're no big deal. As for the Coosa, Jackson has been making whitewater boats now for about 6 or 7 years, and the Coosa is the same construction as their ww hulls. Its all good. The scratches are part of having a rotomolded boat.

I have some boats that have been around for nearly two decades, and despite how much I've tried, I can't scratch the bottom out of 'em! Rotomolded polyethylene is **WAY** more durable than I think some people might give it credit for.

Good to hear. I got myself stuck on a tree limb through a scupper the other day in about 15 ft of water. Wasn't looking forward to jumping in to free it up, so I used my broomhandle stakeout pole to push the limb out and make my escape. Later, I thought my yak might be taking on water, seemed to be riding lower than normal. Naturally I assumed that I had punctured the hull somehow, but it turned out to be my imagination.

If you put something through a scupper and really torqued on it, you might be able to bust the scupper away from the rest of the hull, but that would be due to the inherent strength of that round scupper in relation to the surrounding plastic, not the weakness of the plastic itself. Still, though, you'd probably really have to be wrenching on it to make that happen.

Not that I've never seen a welded or patched boat before, but the durability of the material is pretty darn amazing. The ease with with is scratches is fairly deceptive in that regard.

I don't mean to be picky, but that's not 100% correct. Most of the Jackson WW boats have been constructed out of crosslink polyethylene, whereas all recreational/fishing yaks (including Jackson's Coosa) are made out of linear polyethylene. The molecular shape of the plastic is reflected in the name: crosslink poly has molecules that look much like the screen from a screen door while linear poly molecules are lined up like RR tracks. Crosslink is stronger, hence its use in WW yaks that are taking massive abuse. However, it's more expensive than linear poly, so in less stressfull applications (recreational/fishing yaks), linear poly is used.

That being said, Jackson just announced that, in conjunction with a linear poly manufacturing company, they have developed a newer, stronger linear poly that they will use exclusively in their WW boats for the 2012 model year. They own the exclusive rights to produce yaks with this new linear poly for one full year, at which the poly manufacturer will offer it to other boat companies.

I imagine they'll put this new linear poly through the wringer for 52 weeks, and if it holds up as advertised, we'll see it spread through the yak building community.

Just a note, nearly all mass produced plastic kayaks are made of linear poly, from the $249 Pelican to the $2,549 Pro Angler. It just so happens that the Pelican is maybe 2-3 mm thick, while the Hobies, Natives, and Wilderness Systems of the world are molding yaks that are 8 mm thick or more.

Not picky at all - thanks for the correction.

Maybe it's just I've never had another good kayak to compare it too. Had that pelican but didn't notice it, guess because it was light and I could carry it. I really notice it on the front of this one when I pull it from the back. And that little pad on the back gets ate up pretty quick if you have to drag it across any length of concrete. Guess I need to get used to the battle scares.

Good info. I learned something from this thread.

Glad I bought a Hobie instead of a Pelican. Except when I am loading or toting of course.

Great info! Always interesting to see where some of these threads go.

Wondering if there is anywhere to find out the thickness of the "plastic" for a specific boat. Not something you typically see in the specs.

Right now I have a Hobie (non-Mirage) and an OK in the stable and looking to add one more to the fleet, either a Hobie Mirage or a SINK (my wife is trying to decide). After the quality of the ride, durability is definitely one of the considerations.

Not worried if we go the Mirage route, but as we look into SINK's, which I have very little knowledge in the various products out there, I am flying blind except for steering toward "familiar" brands.

I now have a Jackson Coosa and I can tell the plastic is much thicker than the other kayaks I have seen. Mine has several scratches as well, but that does not worry me, I am sure it will be fine until I get something deep.