: I have the luxury of having access to spray equipment and plan to spray my
: finished strip boat. . . I was
: wondering if anyone has used an automotive clear coat on a kayak.

People have done this, or had it done for them at auto paint shops. Generally, the results look great and the people are well plewased.

The big reason it is not very common on the boats we build, is the cost of the equipment. If someone already has the spray tools, they use them, and are generally happy with the results. Of course, if they already have these spray tools, they probably already have quite a bit of experience using them, too. Nothing like that experience to make a job go smoothly.

I wouldn't worry about how hard the coating will be. Varnish is not very hard, and it is the benchmark.

I wouldn't worry about automotive coatings being durable. They hold up fine in the rain. A boat which is going to be in the water for some of its life, and removed between paddling events is not going to have problems.

PGJ