On 9-Jun-2004, "Te Canaille" wrote:

a scratched up hull is a sign of poor control

An unscratched hull is a sign of someone who doesn't take his
kayak anywhere. Or a paddler who has his priorities wrong.
At the infamous kayaking school in Anglesey, they have paddlers
do a surf launch and landing on rocky beaches, just to get folks
away from the fear of putting the kayak into real life situations.
Flat water and lovely sandy beaches represent a small fraction
of real paddling venues.

Gel coat gets scratched and is easy to repair. Most of the folks
I know that think like you paddle expensive strippers. Those
of us that paddle real kayaks (and not showboats) don't worry
about minor dings and scratches. That gets in the way of real
paddling.

I'm teaching a session on gel coat repair in a couple of weeks
(June 26 to be precise, around 9:30AM) Parry Island in Georgian
Bay - where sandy beaches are usually man-made. If you want
to know how to deal with reality, drop by.

your priorities are a bit narrow.

This from a guy that thinks his kayak's looks are important.

Mike