Thanks for you ideas Noel and Dave. Small boats, small world, thanks to internet. The Loire paddle will be fun. Good people, good river. I met Michael Storer in Oz last January. When you just paint the dacron, how do fill the weave so it doesn't show? The 8oz dacron cloth looks just like fiberglass, and fiberglass weave has to be filled with 3 coats of resin, sanding each coat to level the surface. Do you do the same with polyurethane paint? or do you use a sanding undercoat first? Or just let the weave show? PL 200 brochure says to test the paint you want use first before applying, passing the buck. But each quart (liter) can of paint to test costs $25-40! At least the tubes of goo are only a few dollars and I will use them on paneling in the house. Hempel Impreg 2 is a urethane alkyd. Is that the same as polyurethane? Then tere are 2-part polyurethanes, for marine use industrial use. There is one made by a Finnish company that is flexible. Anyone have experience with 2-part polyurethane on dacron?