Well, I just got back from a 6 day paddle trip on Georgian Bay (Canada). Beautiful country, great paddling - but lots of shoals and rock gardens.

I had a few deep scratches in my Coho hull from previous trips, and a few months ago did some quick and dirty repair work - sanded a football-shaped area, about 6 ft long and extending across the four bottommost hull planks, and applied a new layer of fiberglass.

Now, I've got quite a few deep scratches and actual gouges down to the fiberglass on the hull of my Coho (did I mentioned it was a little windy and rough on Georgian Bay? Plus the water level was down .5 meters?). So, I'm going to sand and apply another coat of fiberglass to the hull.

Here's my questions:
- Should I sand all the way down to the glass on the hull? Or just sand off all the varnish and rough up the top layer of fiberglass? Originally I laid down three coats, including the first glass saturation layer.

- If I don't sand off the glass down to the cloth, and only put on 1 coat of glass, I don't think that will fill in some of the deeper gouges. Should I attempt to "touch-up" or "patch" those areas with gouges down to the cloth? Or will the fiberglass naturally fill in and level out those deeper spots?

- If I do sand all the way down to the glass, I'll put at least two fiberglass coats on the hull...possibly three. Is that too much, considering that I'm not looking for a museum quality finish, but rather for some protection and strengh in the hull?

- I'd rather not sand down the deck - it really doesn't need it, plus I've got my totem on the deck, plus I don't want to add any more weight than I have to. My plan is simply to tape the edges of the deck - good idea?

- I've got one small area, that's right on the edge where the hull meets the deck, where the glass was nicked off - about half the size of a dime. I'm assuming a spot sand and patch would work here?

Any comments, advice and suggestions are appreciated!

Any Georgian Bay is highly recommended - not just by me, but by the highest concentration of nice sea kayaks (Seaward, Current Designs, etc) that I've seen available for rent!

TIA
Ed