Thanks for answering. After my experience I am having second thoughts on this idea. Not that I am giving up but I having concerns about finding a coating that will stand up for a full season. Just backing up and looking at the problem with new eyes. I am thinking a rubberized coats is the way to go. After all that is what the rafts use and it obviously holds up well. Looking around and not finding a lot of options and no info on a SOF boat use.

The primary streams I want to paddle has smoother stones than what I paddle Saturday. So the chances of actually tearing the skin is much less, but you never know what someone will dump in the creek. Of course I will be more cautious now too. And I am redesigning a couple of things on the boats to remove a place that could get caught by a rock.

I agree bare fabric is not going to hold up well for long, but my thinking is if you scrub off the coating and the fabric is still intact, you have something to patch and get you down stream and then you can repair it. A big hole like I had in any other place on the hull would have probably left me stranded.

I have a piece of 8 oz polyester that I cut too small that I will probably use on the canoe frame to start with. It pretty light weight but it will allow me to test the frame and see if I am happy with it and then I could resking it. I just don't want to end up stranded on a creek in the middle of no where.