I have a Betsie Bay kayak (www.bbkayak.com) that needs refinishing. Alas, I can't do it myself, I'm talking to someone who may do it for me. He works on sailboats, and is talking about putting gelcoat on my boat. Does this make sense? I don't know a lot about building boats, but what I've mostly heard is that people put marine paint on it - I've heard about two-part Interlux paints being the best.

Actually, two different people whom I've talked to have mentioned putting gelcoat on the boat - spraying it on.

The boat is wood. The hull is painted and the top varnished. It fell of my van some years ago and a friend patched it with fiberglass. Inelegant but functional. But now the varnish is in bad shape, there's some discoloration in the wood on the deck, the bottom is all scuffed, it's generally a mess and needs refinishing before I take it out again next season.

I'd appreciate any advice on this matter, before I go ahead with this! The proposed repair is also very expensive - I don't know if that's because gel coating is a lot of work, or it would be the same with paint.

(please don't advise me to do it myself - I have no skills in the matter, no place whatsoever to work on my boat, and I'm about to go overseas for two and a half months for work! So I am okay with someone else doing it while I'm away.)

Thanks!