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Gel Coating While all of this has been going on, you will have been mixing up the gel coat concoction. Mix about two parts clear gel coat with one part waxed polyester resin. To this add microballoons to thicken the mixture to the consistency of thick pancake batter. You will want about 16 ounces of thickened gel before you start. Use pigment to darken the gel coat to the desired color. Black, red and yellow are commonly available pigments. Light gray might be the most practical color to mix, as most kayak hulls are white. The microballoons will lighten the color of the dried gel coat, so it’s important to add a lot of pigment to get the right effect. White is, obviously, the easiest color to work with in this respect. However, it’s nice to have the keel strip a different color from the rest of the hull so you can tell when it’s wearing thin. You can always start with a ready-made colored gel coat, but you will get a very light result unless you add pigment to the mix. Once you have the desired thickness, add the appropriate amount of catalyst to your gel coat.  The thickened gel coat needs to be applied to the keel strip before the resin has fully cured. The best time to do it is immediately after you have removed the first layer of masking tape and trimmed the ends of the fiberglass. Use a two-inch-wide paint brush with soft bristles for this part of the job. If you have the gel coat at the right consistency, it will flow onto the weave in a thick layer, leaving few brush marks. If it’s too thin, you’ll have a shiny layer of gel with weave showing through. Too thick and it won’t flow properly off the brush. Again, thick pancake batter is what you’re looking for. You can test the consistency before adding hardener by painting over a piece of scrap fiberglass that has been taped to wax paper. The gel coat mixture should fill in the weave and shouldn’t run down the paper if you set it on edge.  You won’t have to wait too long before removing the second set of masks. Your thickened gel coat should not run down the hull once you remove the tape. As before, pull the masking tape across the center of the boat to allow the partition line to roll back onto the gel coat. Use a razor knife to pull up the edge of the top piece of masking tape covering the skeg box. Remove this strip, pulling toward the gel-coat area. Repeat with the second piece of masking tape.Don’t wait too long to begin removing the tape. You want the gel to drip back into the center of the strip and be absorbed into the rest of the finish. Wait too long, and you won’t be able to pull the tape off—the gel coat will already have hardened. I usually check by sticking my gloved finger into some of the curing gel on the masking tape. You just want to be sure that it won’t run. It sounds difficult, but it really isn’t. You will have had a chance to practice on the clear resin before you tackle the cosmetic gel coat. No matter what you do, the result will have the requisite strength. Good timing just makes for a more professional-looking result. It’s worth mentioning that some of the materials commonly used in the U.K. for keel strips are hard to come by in the States.  Diolene tape and waxed styrene in particular are tough to find. Neither is essential for this project, but some people prefer Diolene over fiberglass because of its toughness. Diolene is a trade name of a special kind of treated polyester cloth used to increase impact-resistance in layups. This material is harder to work with than fiberglass, but it will last longer before wearing through. Note also that Diolene tape has a width of 60 mm, a bit wider than two-inch fiberglass tape. If you find it, you will have to mask your center stripe to 60 mm before beginning to prep.Waxed styrene is often used to add wax to the gel coat layer. Adding waxed resin to the mix will do the job pretty well, but if you have waxed styrene, it helps to add a couple of tablespoons. You probably won’t be able to buy pre-waxed styrene, but you can make it at home. To make “styrene wax,” simply mix paraffin canning wax with styrene. Use a razor knife to shave tiny feathers of wax into the liquid. Keep adding wax until it stops dissolving. Mix the concoction a little bit at a time, or make a big batch and save it in a glass jar. You can buy canning wax at most grocery stores, and you can order styrene through a marine supply house. Project  CompleteCongratulations—you have just finished your first keel strip! This piece of fiberglass will make your kayak much tougher and will provide a sacrificial layer to take abrasions that would otherwise damage the hull. It may be necessary to refinish the keel strip from time to time as it wears. Simply re-mask the edge, rough up the surface with the nylon flap wheel, and apply a new layer of thickened gel coat. Adding a keel strip is a great way to beef up an aging kayak or prepare a new boat for an ambitious trip. Don’t be afraid to tackle this project at home—the results are well worth the effort. Brian Day is a BCU Level-3 sea-kayak coach. He has been paddling sea kayaks since 1992 and whitewater since 1994. Depending on the season, you’ll find him either running whitewater, paddling canoes in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, or kayaking on the sea. He is currently living and working in Ely, Minnesota.
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