Just now took a look at this posting. Though my boat is not new or nice ('93 royalex old town penobscot),I wish I'd done something like this before I wore though the outer layer of both ends. I know that's what kevlar skid plates are for,but I was too cheap to spend $100 on a $300 conoe. ("...quit your cryin'...") Now I've bunged up a fiber glass strip on each end,not been happy, and then sanded that down' and put kevlar skids on over the whole mess. I've now got 30" strips protruding maybe a 1/2" from the original hull line. What is this going to do to the boat's performance?

Thanks for the reassurance, Magicpaddler. A lighter boat has been on my wish list for a while now...but is probably going to stay a wish a bit longer. I'm glad to hear I haven't turned my trusty,but hard to carry,cruel to my arthritic back,boat,also hard to paddle. Since my kid and I are still pretty prone to bumping into and off of things, the ice breaker set up is not entirely bad. I don't know how many times I've scraped over a rock and thought that I'm sure glad we're not in a $2,000 boat! I'm starting to think about solo trips now,and a set up like db's white sawyer is looking awfully sweet.  ...By the way,is that black tape rubberized window/door flashing?