Need Suggestions For Protecting Royalex Canoe Hull

[BobbyRaeAllen]

Hey All,

I have a 1996 Mohawk 14' Royalex. Its in great shape for its age with flipped and refinished seats, all new hardware, and protective treatment on inside and out.

It is a blank canvas for me right now, I call her the Fishin' Unit! I fish around alot of standing timber and I am in a constant state of bump and grind with stumps, branches, and often times I have to put-in on sandy and rocky banks or boat ramps.

Since I usually use the canoe out of a truck bed/back yard of buddies house, I do not have secure storage and I do not keep any gear in the unit. However, one thing I want to do to it before spring really kicks in is find a solution for abrasion resistance on the bottom of the hull (to combat stumps/sand) and extend its life in the long run.

 

I know it is unconventional to paint or bed-line the bottom of a canoe (especially royalex), but it does have some minor sun damage and I can tell its already on its second coat of paint.

Does anybody know of a reletively smooth paint or liner I can coat the bottom of it with (and re-apply as needed) to keep scratches off the hull and prevent futher sun damage from outdoor storage?

 

Any input is welcome. I know I dont have pics up right now but I can get some soon. Also if this post is in the wrong section, mods feel free to re direct it as necessary. Thanks!

[slowleg]

I was thinking of putting a skit plate on both ends which takes a lot of impact/abuse...but at least to me just not justify spending that kind of money to buy the kit to put it on....so I ended up putting duct tape on both sides (3 to 4 layers), just replace it every other 3 or 4 times outing...cost not even 1 roll of tape each time.....cheap...plus you can see which part takes up the most impact....  black or silver  your choice to match up the color of your canoe, I even put white, blue and red  

[BobbyRaeAllen]

I was thinking of putting a skit plate on both ends which takes a lot of impact/abuse...but at least to me just not justify spending that kind of money to buy the kit to put it on....so I ended up putting duct tape on both sides (3 to 4 layers), just replace it every other 3 or 4 times outing...cost not even 1 roll of tape each time.....cheap...plus you can see which part takes up the most impact....   black or silver  your choice to match up the color of your canoe, I even put white, blue and red  

What I ended up doing as a temp solution is filling all of the small cracks/ dents and the ends with marine sealant and smoothing it over. Came out great although a little rubbery. (but that allows for flex and temp changes) I then sprayed some bedliner over it. The bedliner is inevitably falling off. but it is in decent shape and the sealant is holding up well. I just picked up a job at Appo kayak co. here in VA so hopefully this summer I will splurge on some skidplates and sand everything I did to it off. The kit they sell is top of the line and will outlast the rest of the boat so its a good investment i think. I just needed to patch it up to get on the water. i used gorilla tape on my last canoe haha