I bought a new Alpacka Yak recently. It has the new(er) spray skirt with the inflatable triangle at the paddler end. The inflatable part is not seam sealed and leaks. I was going to seam seal it with the stuff they sell for seam sealing tents. But I thought I’d ask if there is something better/different I should use before I commit some packrafting no-no.
Thanks!
Donnie
The inflation bags are sil-nylon, just like a lot of tents… Sil Net will work fine on them.
That said, the air-leakage around the seams doesn’t seem to make much difference. I’ve used them with pinkie-sized holes in them even.
Hig, I think Velodirt is talking about a seam on the Darth Vader bubble of the spray skirt.
Velodirt, I suspect the factory ought to know about the problem. They’ll take care of you. If quality control screwed up that badly, the problem may not be limited to your boat. More likely there is something else involved than seam sealing not being done. For example, if cement or heat bonding failed, there may be more than one boat involved.
I might have confused you both. I tried but failed to attach a photo of what I believe Raven is calling the “Darth Vader” bubble on the spray skirt.
Basically, the stitched seam around the outside edge of the Darth Vader bubble where it’s sewn to the spray skirt is not seam sealed. Water tends to pool there when the bubble is inflated and water leaks through the skirt at those stitched seams. Is that a production issue?? I guess I’d be kind of surprised if it was.
I’d appreciate any advice on sealing those seams.
Thanks,
Donnie
My Yak spray deck was leaking through the seams as well. I sealed it with AquaSeal. A bit messy and not very pretty, but I think it will stop the leaks that were getting my lap wet in hard rain. I have not tried it in rain or spray yet, so I don’t know 100% that it will work, but I have high hopes! BTW, the spray deck is not silnylon, but polyurethane-coated nylon. SilNet won’t work, but AquaSeal is designed to work on polyurethane.
USe a plastic syringe to apply the aquaseal and you’ll get cleaner results. Most pharmacies i’ve tried will actually give you one gratis if you ask.