My wife and I decided on a Christmas cruise vacation to Hawaii. Naturally I took my tail. To avoid weight and bulk, I took the Fin Fun, the one I had modified with a stiffer, polycarbonate insert. I expected to swim in the pool during the At Sea days (9 total) and in a pool at a waterfall during one of the shore excursions.
So what happens during my first swim? Five minutes after entering the water: Pop! The insert breaks. The break was left to right, right under the arch of the foot.
I went to customer services on the ship to see if they could do anything. They offered to take it away and see if their maintenance folks could fix it. I declined, as I had no idea what they would actually do. They could give me a roll of duct tape.
I went to the on-board gift shop and bought some novelty pencils. They had a large diameter, over half an inch. At that point I knew I had a chance; the pencils were decorated with drawings of mermaids.
Half an hour of tape work later, and I had a useable fin. The repair would only last about an hour in the pool. The tape would work lose, and once wet, would no longer stick. On top of that, the cheaply made pencils were put together with questionable glue, and had splices. But, it was good enough for a few swims on the way over, during the waterfall excursion, and a couple while coming home.
No more polycarbonate. Polypropylene from now on. It’s cheaper in any case.
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Originally Posted by Agent Dragon
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