: This winter two of us made West Greenland style skin boats. We contemplated
: the coating issue and were turned off by the volatile characteristics of
: the coatings that were being used (Hypalon etc) as well as the
: availability. Since I had epoxy experience from wood kayak building, I did
: some test patches. It worked out great. Out boats are skinned with 10 oz
: polyester and the epoxy coating maintained a nice flexibility after cured
: yet produced a hard skin with great abrasion resistance. It saturated into
: the cloth yet not through it totally. We both bought epoxy coloring agents
: (black and brown) and made our boats dark brown and black like the seal
: skin boats. Two coats did the job. Its glossy when done so a quick
: spraying with a can of Minwax matt spar varnish dilled them down
: perfectly. The epoxy coating is a great way to go.

Sorry if I'm a little skeptical, but the work pants I'm wearing now have epoxy spots on them that have cracked and split creating holes. Admittedly, this is on denim and the fabric has probably been folded to a higher degree than would be expected for a kayak skin. Do you think it would maintain flexibility even in cold water? Perhaps thickness is a key here too, i.e. too thick => cracking.

Bill