I used AwlBrite Plus on my second yak, too. It's more durable than the Epiphanes varnish I used on my first kayak, but it still has gotten scratched on the aft deck by my storm paddle (spare) and there are a good number of scratches on the hull. But I guess I can't expect any coating to hold up to rock, now, can I? The scratches are defnitely not as deep as they would have been in varnish, so I can see the hardness difference. The scratches on the hull look the same as if it'd been varnished because the poly turns whiteish when scratched. On kayak #3 I'd be tempted to paint the lower portion of the hull white to mask scratches.

The AwlBrite goes on almost like water. I rolled it on and tipped it with a brush and got good results, but not spray-quality. I rolled it on a couple-foot-long section, then tipped it and moved on. It starts to thicken quickly, so you have to do small sections and work quickly. I did the hull and the deck at different times which worked O.K. for me since I have a walnut shear strip that masked any overlap from doing it in pieces rather than hanging the yak and trying to do it all at once. If I were to do it again I'd probably look into spraying it or have an auto-body shop spray it for me. I sprayed an old VW Bug with 2-part poly with a $65 airless electric paint gun from J.C.Whitney -- I don't know if they still sell it. I wore a respirator with organic filters and had a lot of air movement.

Your sanding must be as perfect as possible -- no little shiny low spots -- for the 2-part poly to look good. I'd recommend squeegee-ing your fill coats so the surface is nice and smooth before sanding. The poly is so thin that it won't fill in small pinholes in the epoxy they way varnish sometimes can. It will still show little 'sink' marks.

Now that I've used both, I can't really say whether I prefer one to the other, at least when clear-coated. Both have their advantages. Betsie Bay Kayaks uses the off-white AwlGrip paint for the hulls of their production stitch-and-glue kayaks. I've seen a number of thier boats at kayak symposia, and their hulls continue to look great for years -- like a fiberglass kayak's gelcoat -- and they're paddled by people who like to paddle a lot. But BBK sprays the hulls with a thick coat. This is what I would attempt to mimic on kayak #3...

You're right about the clarity of AwlBrite, too -- it goes on perfectly clear, which I liked because I wanted the light-colored white cedar to really show.

Hopefully this helped -- send me any more questions if you have 'em.

Dean

: I have begun the venture to build my second kayak!

: I wanted to find out if anyone has ever used AwlBright Plus urethane finish
: before? It has a much more durable and clear finish than something like
: spar varnish.

: Any thoughts welcome
: thanks
: Mark