Not seeing too many posts today I figured I might as well make a contribution myself, so here's a progress report on the CLC LT16 I'm building for anyone who's starved for kayak talk this afternoon.

Just about ready for paint (hull - Hatteras White) and varnish (deck). Lots of rain in the San Francisco area the past two months has kind of held up the finish sanding. Just couldn't see getting that epoxy dust all over my cramped garage. But last weekend was finally sunny and dry, so armed with my new electric hand-sander, we moved the boat outside and I went to work. I'm trying to aspire to the level of perfection that's so noticeable on this BBS, but is not a trait I'm usually accused of possessing. Fortunately the sanding has gone very easily thanks to the electric sander (worth every penny) and the fact that we put the epoxy on slowly and carefully, leaving very few drips to deal with.

The only tough part was right at the tip of the bow (the most noticeable area, of course). It had been really difficult getting the glass to lie down and behave around those sharp curves, and now after sanding it smooth there were a few spots (a couple of square millimeters) where it was obvious the glassing job was less than perfect and had not adhered to the plywood. So this week I've applied another strip of glass (2" wide) along the bow seam and am slowly filling the weave with a little epoxy each evening.

So far it looks much better, but I must admit it was still difficult to get even this little strip of glass to adhere properly without any air pockets. With what seems like hundreds of hours spent reading this BBS, The Kayak Shop, the CLC manual, etc., I haven't really found any tips that would have made this easier. I'd welcome suggestions as I'm sure this won't be the last boat I build.

Anyway, with a little luck we'll be ready to apply the paint sometime next week, as temperatures are becoming positively spring-like around here and the new epoxy is curing nicely. And one of these days we'll actually get to paddle this thing instead of just admiring its attractive lines as it sits on the workbench. Peter