sorry about your boat , i'm sure it'll turn out great with the contrasting color. i believe i past you two up in old forge 2 summers ago. i was in an outer island heading towards town and you two , were paddling out. sharp looking yaks. small world i guess.

: Last August just prior to loading my boat on the truck for an out of state
: trip I had my S&G boat sitting next to a big tree in my yard when a big
: gust of wind came along. To make a long story short, a 6" diameter
: limb crashed down on it passing through the cockpit and out through the
: bottom. The resulting hole is about about one foot square. The rear hatch
: was destroyed and another hole was punched just behind the cockpit.
: Refusing to let this mishap ruin our paddling plans in the Adirondacks (we
: were taking my wifes boat too), I cut two pieces of 1/4" plywood, put
: them inside the hull covering the hole (under the seat) and stapled them
: in place after which I sealed the whole thing up with a couple of layers
: of duct tape (not grey, black because it's classier looking).
: I'm finally getting around to fixing the boat and I plan to patch the bottom,
: make a new hatch and possibly put a day hatch in the spot behind the
: cockpit where the smallest hole is. As much as I like the bright finish of
: the boat I'm thinking of painting the hull and leaving the deck
: bright....I've seen pictures of some very nice looking boats finished this
: way. If you have pictures of boats finished like this please post them to
: help me make a decision. I think a off white would look nice but wonder
: what a dark color might look like. My boat is the dark one.