water pools on the deck then drips through the zipper.

[chriszimlich]

I have the advance frame, the best thing i have ever owned. but water pools on the deck then drips through the front deck zipper. If I brace my knees under the deck it helps keep the water from pooling but It's hard to get my knees up every time I get some spray. I have been experementing with plastic ribs to help convex the deck but then i would need to sew pockets in to the kayak and i dont want to take it that far . Does anyone have any ideas how to keep water from dripping through the zippers?

[stephenHK]

We pushed a blow up cushion over the tube under the deck in our dragonflies to 'tent' the deck. We also proofed the deck so the water beads and runs off - worked well in a choppy sea.
I think there are zip sealers too?

[ichivy]

I own an Advanced Frame single. I tried putting pieces of velcro along the sides of the zipper and then a piece of rectangular plastic (actually a cut kids poncho) with velcro too goes over the zipper. The plastic then acts as a cover.

This idea has worked so so: it kept some water out, but the velcro didn't stayed glued to the fabric at all. Also I think the plastic (poncho) is of poor quality.

I'm gonna give it a second try: Velcro all allong the edge of the zipper and a better cover. I would like to have some feedback to improve this.

[stevewsdewar]

Ive got the AFC and there is a 1inch hole at the back where the zips dont quite meet up when one of the decks is put on. Im thinking about slotting a bit of rope between the lips on both edges of the zip so that it would sit right on top of the zip and the edges and sort of fill the gap between them preventing water getting into the hole. But the rope would probably just get wet and wick water directly onto the zip. Then i thougt that a thin stip of waterproof nylon wrapped under and around the rope and folding over the edges of the zip would mean the rope holds nylon into the gap and the nylon waterproofs the gap. Only an idea, but it would probably need to be all the way round the whole zip area.

Steve

[Jaygee]

I have an older Advanced Frame single (AE1002) and have solved the problem of water dripping through the zipper very simply - I prop up the deck closest to the cockpit with my waterbottle. It just raises the deck enough to avoid puddling and the waterbottle is very handy to reach there.
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[JCOOLEY]

Great idea and a great picture!

Jeremy

[Damien]

I just put a towel on the top and it absorbs most of the water and stops the dripping. Make sure you inflate those two bladders up front too. That helps.

[waterborne]

Hey Folks,

I put my Advance Frame to the test both on salt water and flat Lake water and have discovered a cheap alternative to using a support frame beneath the deck and stern. Its so simple some of you will laugh when I write this. Grab yourself several packs of those little squishy foam earplugs that you get at worksites or work clothing shops. Simply sinch them between your zippers both front and back. Since they are a sealed foam they will not absorb water or salt water and they repell too. I found this too work exceptionally and when doing heavy waves in the Indian Arm through Vancouver, BC I will put similar foam of greater size so that I can completely seal off the gap at the end of the seem just below the coambing bellows. Try it for yourself!

[MDO]

I also do the towel trick, one other user suggested ShamWow which is extra absorbent. The advantage of the towel is that it is right there at the end of the paddle to wipe, clean, etc. Disadvantage is that is some cases, it getsw so overly soaked that it does not work any more (ie ocean paddle in wavy conditions). I am curious about the little ear plugs - they are sooooo small.... where exactly do you place them, and do you place just one at the top of the zipper????

I liked the water bottle idea too, but does it not get in the way of the legs?????

[waterborne]

The holes that I had in my Kayak were about the width of my thumb so I only use three per front and back. I gently tape around them using breathable medical tape and then insert them into the hole. I then pull up on my zipper and pull the velcro tabs on the coambing tubes right down. This seeems to do the trick! I wonder if all the Advance Frames have the same size gap in them? If not, I suggest using a piece of memory foam wrapped in a plastic bag as this way you can cut the piece you need to the size that fits your Kayak. Tru it and see if it works. I like the water bottle trick too but find it would put side stress to the zipper over a period of time and may fail the zipper after awhile!

[Jaygee]

I have used the water bottle to prop up the front deck of my AF 10.5 for 5 years now and there are no signs of any problems with the zipper.

[waterborne]

Thats good to know. Whatever works for you. I just found the earplugs to be less intrussive to the interior of the kayak but if it works for you.....thats all that matters.

[Ray]

I used 1/2 inch PVC covered with a swimming pool noodlles to lay on top of the floation tubes and under the nylon skin to provide better shape to the yak. We also had these dark gray foam interlocking pads with a diamond plate pattern on them and cut them to fit under the front bungees. I use this area to rig for fishing as well as to take fish off the line. I'd post a photo but I don't have them stored in a public domain anywhere.

[nwas6]

Hi

I, too, was getting fed up with water coming in through the zips so I've made a few modifications to my AdvancedFrame that you may be interested in. They work a treat: I've just completed a trip across the Solent to the Isle of Wight (approx 17km of sea kayaking) in quite choppy water with waves continually breaking over the bow and it probably only let in about a tea-cup of water. When it was brand new, doing a similar kind of route would have ended up with me sitting in a pool of water. It's approaching 4 years old now, so after I made the mods I used up a couple of tins of Thundershield which I think helped as well.

The first mod is to use some patches from the repair kit to cover up the zip - I do a lot of sea kayaking and the zips seized up with salt after the first trip and have never been freed, so I have always had to reach in to clean the inside of the kayak anyway. I used the glue from the kit to stick the patches down, covering the edges with masking tape to secure the patches while the glue went off. Then I went around the outside edges/gaps with Stormsure to make it a bit more secure and watertight.




When the patches met the rim, I left a few cm flapping loose; the idea being that this would be pulled tight under the spray deck, covering up the hole behind the zip.



I understand that people have used duct tape to achieve the above. However, I've had some experience of the duct tape adhesive reacting with plastics, making them weak, so I didn't want to do this. Also, as the zip is seized up anyway, a more permanent solution made sense.

Part 2 of the plan was to stop the 'bowl' effect as the top canvas sags down and collects water that then seeps through the gaps and material. I've seen the plumbing pipe approach with the fish finder holder elsewhere in the forum (which is a neat idea), but as I didn't have any such pipe to hand and didn't need the upright mount I thought I'd try something else. What I did have (don't ask why) was some sheets of 1.5mm polypropylene. So, I put a couple of strips together; bent them; wrapped some duct tape around them while bent; and riveted them together. I now have a couple of flexible arches that can sit on top of the inflatable ring and push the top canvas up, removing the bowl.



They are simply fitted after inflation, before getting in.




Advanced elements take note: this could be very easily and cheaply acheived as standard build by sewing a couple of pouches into the top canvas for a pre-formed strip of nylon or polyprop to sit in, bowing up (similar to the patches that the aluminium bow/stern stiffeners sit in). One strip fore and one aft of the spray deck helps a lot.

1.5mm polyprop isn't something that's easy to find, but plastic boxes are and are cheap enough to cut up. Any flexible plastic sheet should work well. The duct tape alone will probably hold the arch for a trip or two if you don't have a rivet gun.

Hopefully this will give a bit of information and encouragement to anyone thinking of trying out their own mods.

Cheers,

Nathan

PS. I've seen a tip somewhere in the forum to move the knot from the back to the front of the spray deck so it sits better on the inflation points. I've found this to be unnecessary by simply replacing the as-shipped overhand knot with a reef knot and tucking the loose ends in. This also helps keep the water out a bit.