Hi,

I've recently acquired an old waveski (sit-on surf kayak) which needs some repairs. Once this has been done, I want to give it a fresh look to cover up the old faded colouring and decals but not sure the best way to approach it.

At the moment I'm am thinking of the following two options to keep the extra weight to a minimum:

1. Sand the existing fibreglass slightly, paint with a water-based acrylic (most likely Liquitex spray paint), and cover with a coat of laminating resin.
2. Sand the existing fibreglass slightly and cover with a coat of pigmented laminating resin (most likely solid white or black).

My question is, will I have any compatibility issues or delamination with option 1, and will option 2 give me a solid enough colour to cover up the existing markings?

A third option would be to pigment a fresh layer of fibreglass to the ski, but this will add 1 to1.5kg of extra weight which I wanted to try and avoid.

Any help would be great!

You're much better off getting it professionally sprayed then, honestly. There no real reason you can't coat it with resin yourself if that's the way you want to go, but not only is it not an easy task especially on something the size of a kayak (you'll be up for many hours of sanding for sure), but there aren't a lot of options for brushable coatings out there that will be a good long term option. Epoxies are tough but aren't UV resistant, polyester flowcoats are ok but don't finish well and require a very good mechanical key to bond well... I also think you will add much more weight with just the resin than you might think.

A good quality marine grade 2k polyurethane is the way to go. Super tough and stands up great to weathering and osmosis, plus if you get it done professionally you will have a finish you will love. Go and speak to a couple of spray painters, there are always some that are willing to do a good cash deal and if you do all the prep-work yourself then it likely wouldn't cost you too much more than you would pay just for the materials to do it yourself like you are planning.