Hi Rehd,

All the wood in a kayak has to be encapsulated in epoxy to protect it from water damage and the epoxy/glass is part of the construction needed for strength.

With either approach to fiberglassing, epoxy will soak into the wood. Professionals are skilled enough that they have full control without having to precoat and they want to save the time. I feel that I have more control by precoating and would rather do the extra step.

The amount of resin that you need to fill the weave is determined by the cloth so you fill coats are not affected. I think that precoating allows you to control how much resin soaks into the wood and there are some benefits there.

George mentioned that he precoats and blots up the extra resin so he is doing a careful job of controlling the application. For high quality, high performance lay-ups you have to pay attention to the details.

You are "in the ball park" with your ideas - after you have spread a couple of batches of resin you will find which method you prefer.

Hank