If you have a damaged kayak you should first determine what material it is made from (click here for details).

Once you have done this, your next step should be to assess the damage in order to decide whether it needs repairing, and, if so, what sort of repair you need to do.
Below is a guide to help you:

Step 1: Assess the damage to determine whether you need to repair it, and, if so, to decide what sort of repair is required.

Note: If you are unsure of the meaning of some of the terms being used in the table below (e.g., gelcoat, composite material) click here for information that will help.

Nature of damage	What needs to be done
Scratch or chip in gelcoat that doesn’t reach the composite material underneath	Nothing needs to be done. This is a superficial scratch and structural integrity is still intact. You can repair for aesthetics, however. See Gelcoat Repair.
Scratch or chip in gelcoat that does reach the composite material underneath, however does not damage the composite material	Structural integrity is still intact so you don't need to repair any composite material, however you should repair the damaged gelcoat to minimize the risk of future composite material damage. See Gelcoat Repair.
Deep scratch that goes through gelcoat and damages the composite material underneath.	Structural integrity is no longer intact since the composite material has been damaged. You should do a composite material repair using the material your kayak is made from. See step 2 below for further details. Once you have done the composite repair you can do a Gelcoat Repair for aesthetics.
Crushed hull, hole in hull or any other type of damage that seriously deforms the kayak or stops it being watertight.	Structural integrity and hull integrity are no longer intact. You should do a composite material repair using the material your kayak is made from. See step 2 below for further details. Once you have done the composite repair you can do a Gelcoat Repair for aesthetics.
Kayak broken in half!	You can repair a composite kayak that has broken in half. The specific process for this type of repair is not covered on this website, however information in composite repair (for more details see step 2 below) and in Gelcoat Repair should provide some valuable help.

Step 2: For a composite repair, decide your repair material.
You should use the same composite material (i.e., fiberglass, Kevlar or carbon fiber) that your kayak is made from. Using a different material will weaken the repair. If you don't know what material your kayak is made from click here for information to help you.

Step 3: Go to the appropriate repair instructions:
Fiberglass kayak repair: click here
Kevlar kayak repair: click here
Carbon Fiber kayak repair: click here
Applicable to all: Gelcoat Repair