John3 wrote:
I would love to restore a folbot kayak from the mid to late 1930s. I need a terrific amount of guidance; especially as to what the hull is made from and what is it replaced with today? Are the replacements readily available? Further reading that I could do before jumping into this subject..
Thanks,
John C
Boats then were made with a rubberized canvas hull, and an Egyptian cotton deck. Rubberized canvas is an obsolete material; modern boats used Hypalon, a synthetic similar to neoprene, bonded to a polyester cloth core. You can buy that from raft supply companies, or as a roofing material at your coal big box store. There are other materials, like PVC laminated to polyester. Some home builders coat polyester with urethanes.
If you don’t want to sew your own, Long Haul Folding Kayaks makes excellent replacement hula, and if your deck is in good shape, they can sew a new hull to it. I had them make a new Hull for a Klepper Master I owned some years ago.