Deck Split in deck on left side near left front seat

Discovered a split in the deck on my 2010 Pro Angler. need suggestions as to how to fix and maybe reinforce the deck in that area. Hobie has a DIY plastic welding kit for $70. I'm pretty handy with an arc welder, but have no experience with plastic. I think this was a problem in the 2010 Pro Anglers, I'm lucky it just surfaced this week. The Kayak was stored under a custom cover and on a trailer with indoor/outdoor carpet 8 feet long. I need some good advice from some one who has traveled this path already?

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I did a structural plastic repair on my 2010 drive well, so some experience. Instead of just welding the crack shut, I would recommend that you first determine what force led to the crack, then do a structural reinforcement to mitigate that stress, and finally do a cosmetic repair.

For structural reinforcement of a vertical force, consider custom fitting a pillar out of PVC pipe and flange material to connect the underside of the deck around the crack to the inside of the outer hull, essentially building up another scupper tube (but sealed at both ends). For structural reinforcement of a lateral force, consider attaching a piece of plastic breadboard material on the underside of the deck across the split area. And doing a mirror-image preventative repair on the opposite side at the same time, since that side may be feeling the same forces.

3M Scotch-Weld DP8010 Structural Adhesive is one of the few glues that will chemically bond to the polyethylene material of the hull. It comes in 2 varieties - DP8010 is molasses-like when mixed and will flow into cracks, whereas the DP8010NS is more loose-putty-like and provides a stronger fibrous structural matrix. Either one would probably work for you. Both are expensive (like $55 for a 45 ml tube) and hard to find in one-tube lots. I was fortunate that the local Fastenal store was able to order 1 tube of the NS product for me. Both varieties are a 2-part epoxy that comes in joined syringes and MUST be mixed at the recommended 10:1 ratio. You can purchase a dispenser tool and mixing nozzle to assure the correct mix, but for a one-time repair I just used wooden dowels as pistons that were the same diameter as the syringe barrels and glued these into a small block of wood so that I could push down on the small block and advance the 2 pistons the exact same distance, thereby delivering the correct ratio. I did not purchase the mixing tip since this has a 5+ ml dead space volume and at what you are paying for the adhesive I did not want to lose any - just mix well with a popsicle stick and work quickly. Once mixed, you only have about 8 minutes of working time, so the actual gluing must be rehearsed. Consider working the repair in stages - port side first, then starboard, or lower end of repair first, upper second, etc. You need to do this outdoors and even then I woule recommend using a fan in the front hatch section to expel vapors since the stuff smells horrible. You can probably use Duct Tape or rare-earth magnets to hold the reinforcement pieces tightly in place while the DP8010 cures.

Once the structural repair has been accomplished, a cosmetic repair can be done on the upper deck surface using the plastic welder. I did not need to do that and others can chime in on how best to tackle that.

Good luck!