On Aug 14, 3:44 pm, wrote:
You can redo the gel-coat when it gets damaged, as it certainly will.

How hard should I hit a rock to make the gel re-coating necessary?
Will I have to re-coat after every portage/launch? Will I have to
spend hours re-coating after every trip?

If you're paddling lakes, there's no excuse for hitting rocks hard,
especially as clear as those lakes are. Canoes get scratched on the
bottom from landing. It's part of the activity.

For a baseline, I have a fiberglass slalom racing canoe that i paddle
in whitewater a few times a year. I hit rocks, and I'm moving right
along when i do. I haven't needed to patch it in several years. My
previous race boat was a Wenonah in their Tuf-Weave layup. That stuff
is stout. The next owner managed to tear it up, but he used the corner
of a parking garage to do it.

Bottom line: get yourself a composite (fiberglass and/or Kevlar) boat
with gelcoat on the outside and go paddle. Every couple of years, look
to see if you have worn off enough gelcoat to see the fibers (probably
not). If so, patch it. It'll take about an hour.

Enjoy!

Steve