I have a SR 18.5 Foot Canoe, and haven't used it in a few years mainly because I have young children. I am planning on bringing my daughter up for her first trip. I brought my canoe down, and after wiping down the dust, noticed it is dry and some of the few scratches are showing that are almost/just down to the cloth. It has been in a garage on a stand on the wall for years, so not UV damage but it does look dry.

Is there an option to go to Lowes or Home Depot to get a basic epoxy and put a coat or two on to help out without sanding, and making a big project out of it? I am not looking for perfect, but rather quick and easy. If not, does anyone have experience, or worry about running into an issue with leaks etc? 0 experience in refinishing.

Looking for suggestions as I head out on Thursday and have limited time to work on it.

Clean real good with acetone (wear gloves). Let dry. Coat with spar varnish.
Do it today if you want to use it Thursday.

Don't use hardware store epoxy.

It would be a good idea to rough it up with sand-paper prior to varnishing. Your varnish will adhere much better. If there are just a few deeper scratches, you could just touch those specific areas up, and then hit the whole boat up after your trip.

I would do neither. Sounds like it could use an epoxy recoat, but you dont have time. If you varnish it, you'll have to get that all off before you epoxy it. I would just give it a good washing with car product.....like a wash and wax product. Or, give it a good wipe down with a product like 303 or UV Tech spray. It will look better just getting it wet. After your trip, you can study up and take some time to re-epoxy it (sand, clean, West Sytems Epoxy, wet sand, 2nd coat etc)

If it's just scratches I wouldn't mess with epoxy. I would just refinish it quick with Epifanes spar varnish after giving it a quick light sanding with a random orbiting sander to rough up the finish a bit. It's a fairly quick process and the boat will be fine for next x number of years going forward. You can see my before and after pics of my doing just that with my SRQ 17 that I bought that had sun damage from when it lived in Florida.

I'm with the varnish crowd, unless the cloth is really showing in patches, not just a scratch. And the Epipanes is my choice for both my SRs. But a good wash is probably fine.

cowdoc: "I would do neither. Sounds like it could use an epoxy recoat, but you dont have time. If you varnish it, you'll have to get that all off before you epoxy it. I would just give it a good washing with car product.....like a wash and wax product. Or, give it a good wipe down with a product like 303 or UV Tech spray. It will look better just getting it wet. After your trip, you can study up and take some time to re-epoxy it (sand, clean, West Sytems Epoxy, wet sand, 2nd coat etc)"

Help out a guy who is about to buy his first kevlar canoe that needs a few patches. I understand about waiting for the permanent repair, but what is the value of the wash and wax product? Is this purely cosmetic or is there some protection value?
When you say it will look better just getting it wet, do you mean in the water or with the product? Thanks in advance.

I'm with the do neither crowd. Bring duct tape just in case, but you won't need it. Refinish at your leisure after a great trip.

Chuckles: "

cowdoc: "I would do neither. Sounds like it could use an epoxy recoat, but you dont have time. If you varnish it, you'll have to get that all off before you epoxy it. I would just give it a good washing with car product.....like a wash and wax product. Or, give it a good wipe down with a product like 303 or UV Tech spray. It will look better just getting it wet. After your trip, you can study up and take some time to re-epoxy it (sand, clean, West Sytems Epoxy, wet sand, 2nd coat etc)"

Help out a guy who is about to buy his first kevlar canoe that needs a few patches. I understand about waiting for the permanent repair, but what is the value of the wash and wax product? Is this purely cosmetic or is there some protection value?
When you say it will look better just getting it wet, do you mean in the water or with the product? Thanks in advance. "

OP stated canoe looked "dusty, dry and scratched". Sometimes just giving it a good bath and getting it wet changes appearance of those hulls. Things look much better suddenly. If the hull truly needs some sort of refinishing, the wash or spray is a temporary "fix". The 303, or UV Tech will help protect for the trip.

cowdoc: "

Chuckles: "

cowdoc: "I would do neither. Sounds like it could use an epoxy recoat, but you dont have time. If you varnish it, you'll have to get that all off before you epoxy it. I would just give it a good washing with car product.....like a wash and wax product. Or, give it a good wipe down with a product like 303 or UV Tech spray. It will look better just getting it wet. After your trip, you can study up and take some time to re-epoxy it (sand, clean, West Sytems Epoxy, wet sand, 2nd coat etc)"

Help out a guy who is about to buy his first kevlar canoe that needs a few patches. I understand about waiting for the permanent repair, but what is the value of the wash and wax product? Is this purely cosmetic or is there some protection value?
When you say it will look better just getting it wet, do you mean in the water or with the product? Thanks in advance. "

OP stated canoe looked "dusty, dry and scratched". Sometimes just giving it a good bath and getting it wet changes appearance of those hulls. Things look much better suddenly. If the hull truly needs some sort of refinishing, the wash or spray is a temporary "fix". The 303, or UV Tech will help protect for the trip."

Very helpful; thanks.

The car wax, 303,or UV Tech (as well as varnish) protects the epoxy from uv damage.

Very helpful. Thanks for the pointers. I want with the varnish route, and did two light coats. Got it done last night so won’t quite make it 72 hours. Probably closer to 66 hours before I put in. I am hopeful it works, looks better and hopefully better than nothing!

I bought the same canoe used from an outfitter and told it was in better shape than it really was.

I used it on my trip, no time to mess with it. When I got home I and my fishing partner put it up on saw horses, washed it, picked away the dry stuff, glassed in some patches, then sanded it and then layed down a coat of West Marine epoxy, let it dry, wet sanded it and did it again. Now it looks awesome for the last two years!

I'm very impressed with the West Marine epoxy, yes it costs a little more, but I like the way it works and holds up. It doesn't take long, just takes courage to do it the first time.

Nomad

If something delays the varnishing, apply 303. It'll give your canoe UV protection and sheen, as well. Try local hardware stores, auto zone, marinas, etc.
303 Aerospace Protector.

I wanted to reply that this worked, Canoe looked good, and held good without issue for the time being, thank you for the help!