: On my first boat, a CLC Millcreek 16.5, I merrily fiberglassed the deck, the
: cockpit, and also taped the hull before I put on the 6oz glass.

: It is so heavy I cant really pick it up.

: How dumb was that - does anyone not glass their decks? I guess the cockpit
: was overkill. CLC manual mentions that glassing the hull itself is
: optional. I guess if the boat were never going to bang anything then that
: might work out best. The lighter the boat the more you want to use it.

: Also do you save enough weight with thinner cloth to bother? I know you save
: a few ounces of glass, but then must also use less epoxy, right?

: I'm about to fillet up another boat, and want to optimize the weight.

: thanks in advance

It all depends. with my CLC 18, it is stock to only epoxy and varnish the deck with no cloth. the deck is 4 mm okuome by the way.

with my merganser with a 3 mm deck, I have glassed the deck with 4 oz cloth and taped all seams with 6 oz tape. hull was 6 oz cloth by the way.

have you actually weighed your boat? 45-50 lbs is pretty heavy to lift no matter what so your boat may actually be close to advertised weight. plus the size of the boat make them a bit awkward too. what other little goodies do you have in the boat? fancy seat? fancy deck lines or toggles?

you do have a nice bombproof boat though I bet.

otherways to save weight: 1) minimize fillet size 2) sqeegie first coat of epoxy into glass to get a better epoxy to glass ratio 3) don't fill weave on cockpit glass 4) be careful with your end pour size or consider other options.

hope these help.

pete czerpak albany, NY