fixing paddle blade (Manta)

Have a manta paddle, fibre glass stock.

One blade has a 1-2cm split from the very tip heading towards the shaft. I am in fear of a tearing scenario. Are my fears to no purpose? Should I cut it out in a gentle shape, bog it up over and sand? Any advice?

Heya Dave,

Is that a plastic blade on the end of a fibreglass shaft? If it is plastic, it would be worth finding out which kind it is, as they have pretty different properties (e.g. nothing sticks to Nylon) and it will affect how you repair it. For most plastics you could rough up the crack and stick on some supporting strips of epoxy soaked fibreglass (or carbon fiber if you have it lying around). Fibreglass from Bunnings or Mitre 10 is usually pretty cheap, and you might be able to get away with using a tube of araldite (though I have never tried this). You might also have some luck sticking some plastimake (plastimake.com) or some other kind of plastic (like the one they use to fix WW kayaks) to it.

Bog might also work, but I don’t have any experience using it and don’t know how impervious to water it is?

I fixed a 4-5 cm crack in a plastic Aqua Bound with some tuck tape. It’s still going strong!