Al D wrote:
On Fri, 23 Jun 2006 18:05:17 -0400, Steve Cramer wrote:

Corelite seems to be a polyethylene (kayaks are made of high density
polyethelene), which is tough stuff.

Tough in some respects, for sure. However, my impression is that it is
softer than, say, ABS, and therefore more prone to deep scratching.
That's not usually a problem if the hull is thick enough. But I
suspect that the thickness of the outer skin of this Corelite is
probably quite thin. One of the main selling-points of the material is
that hulls made of it are lighter than hulls with similar rigidity
made of solid plastic. I assume they can only achieve increased
lightness by using less plastic.

The usual ABS canoe is a sandwich of vinyl, ABS (acrylonitrile
butylstyrene (sp?), and vinyl. The vinyl does abrade, but not that
quickly. It's mainly there because ABS is very sensitive to UV
radiation.

You can run it up on shingle beachs for a long time. WW boaters, who
hit rocks as a matter of course, tend to wear off a big area on the
bottom of the hull. You can add fiberglass or Kevlar armor to the
stems, but for your use it's frankly not worth it. Remember that you
sea kayaking bretheren are running glass boats up on that same shingle.
Pick your boat for handling characteristics and weight. Any plastic
boat is plenty strong for the uses you described.

Steve