> I am building an Osprey Standard and have some problems with putting the
> epoxy on the hull. 1. After glassing the hull, the area near butt joints
> in the middle of the boat has a very faint, cloudy appearence. Is there
> anyway to avoid this? 2. I can't seem to get the epoxy to fill the weave
> of the tape strip down the keel where it is not horizontal, any tips?. 3.
> If more than 72 hrs. have past between coats of epoxy what has to be done
> before the next coat?

I am building an Arctic Tern and have also experienced the clouding problem at the butt seams. It appears to be too late to do anything about it now, prevention being the only cure. While I am not positive of the cause, I can offer a hypothesis; perhaps the next person to build a Pygmy will perform the experiment and report the result. It seems that the clouding may be caused by the unsealed wood wicking epoxy away from the finely woven cloth used as a first layer at the seam. The solution would be to presaturate the panels and allow them to cure before starting to build. The instructions for my boat did not call for this. I actually did presaturate the panels but only after doing the butt seams. Of course one must remember to sand the presaturated panels before glassing to provide a mecanical bond if more than 72 hours have ellapsed.

George F. Johnson