: On my last kayak (Point Bennett 18) I used McCloskey Man O’ War Marine Spar
: Varnish with good results. I bought it at a big box store for half the
: price of my usually used Captain’s.

Dave - Gorgeous finish on your boat! Think mine will have a glow to them, but not the glassy look you've got going. If I take the time to do some inlay work on the next go-round, I'll concentrate a bit more on my finish quality. Good to know you had such good success w/ 'common' varnish.

Et - Honestly never given it much thought beyond just getting the damned things out of my basement and into some water. We are destined to have some youngsters coming up through the family ranks. Thanks for providing a nice perspective that I had not even considered.

Ron - Cut it out of 4-mil copper sheeting. Got it on-line from one of the distributors in a 16"w x 4' roll. Read somewhere that it cuts easy w/ jeweler's saw, which I could not find. Local hobby store has scissors made for cutting metal. Cut well, but difficult to get into the curved corners w/o crimping the foil. Used latex gloves while handling to keep fingerprints. Looks a little rough up-close for my tastes, but I think it will be ok from the distance most will see it at. Anxious to see how it looks when the sun hits it on the water.

Todd