Ray, those things are made of polyethylene plastic. Think: plastic milk jugs. It's very durable stuff - I joke with people during classes when they bump into each other with school boats "don't worry, they're made of Tupperware." The thing with polyethylene plastic is that it's really hard to get stuff to stick to it. It's a very wax-like plastic. For example, the way to repair it is to melt more poly into it. The only thing you'll need to worry about to keep them in good shape is to minimize abrasion, or they get "hairy," and to keep them out of the sun, because UV bleaches the color and makes the plastic get brittle. If your keel at the bow or stern get cosmetically ugly from abrasion, you could use a spatula tip from a soldering gun to melt the hair back down. I've done it, and it won't look great, but you can then tell yourself it's faster because it's a little bit smoother. As for UV, it's pretty thick plastic, so it will take quite a while to go pale and brittle. If you keep them inside for storage, over a few years of paddling, you will see some bleaching in the deck. Otherwise, I don't think it's a problem unless you store them outside all the time. Then, it would probably take 3-5 years to start looking really bad.

Have fun paddling them!

Brian

: I'm new on this board and to kayaking. I just purchased two used kayaks: a
: Heritage sea otter and an Ocean Kayak tandem. I'm sure there are some
: beautiful hand made kayak discussions that are the norm on this board so
: this question may seem barbaric but my question is whether a spray on
: bedliner or zolatone (flecks of color in it to look like granite) will
: adhere to the plastic hull of the Ocean Kayak or will it chip off easily
: with time. Both of these sprays I was considering for above the water line
: but there is another spray on liner named Rhino Lining that is smoother in
: texture and I thought that would not create too much drag and help protect
: the hull. Besides durability weight may be an issue as well. Thanks for
: your opinions and expertise.