Dean, I agree Pygmy is too stingy with their cloth: I had the same reaction as you as to the cloth being joined on the rear deck, where the overlap is visible even if you sand it off. I also didn't like the fact that the cloth overlaps right in the cockpit in front of the seat -- again, an unsightly detail that a bigger piece of cloth would cover. I don't understand Pygmy's skimping so much...but the Coho is a great boat, so this isn't too big a deal, I guess.

Tom

: Doug,

: Start sanding on one of the places where you need to feather, like the
: overlap of the deck cloth over the side of the hull, or (if your Coho is
: like my Tern) on the overlap at the center of the deck. Avoid the shear
: seam and start feathering the edge of the cloth down to the hull side
: panel. You will see the fiberglass cloth show up plain as day. It will
: look like a white cross-hatching on the off-white epoxy. The big tip then
: is: when you see this in places other than where you need to feather, stop
: sanding there and move on. You will inevitably start sanding into the
: cloth somewhere you don't want to, but don't get all torn up about it. If
: you don't linger in that area with the sander, you'll still have some
: strength there, and varnish will wet the area out and make the exposed
: weave transparent again.

: You will find out how much you need to sand as you go. The sanded surface
: will be a flat off-white color, sanding dust will fill in the low spots,
: and you will think you've done a pretty good job. But give the boat a wipe
: with a damp cloth, and you'll see some shiny spots that you've missed, and
: you'll need to sand down further. Eventually both your arms will have
: fallen off, the whole boat will be dull-looking, and you'll be done. It's
: a great feeling to apply the varnish and see the wood shine through again.

: If your Coho is like my Tern and has 2 pieces of cloth on the outside of the
: deck that overlap in the center, I have some advice: I didn't sand very
: far into the overlap because I didn't want to weaken the cloth. As a
: result, I have bit of a bump there. I talked with Pygmy after the fact,
: and they recommend just sanding the whole overlap right off. You now have
: a weak spot, because the cloth is essentially butt-jointed with no
: overlap, but it is in an area that's reinforced with the cockpit coaming,
: so strength probably isn't much of an issue. I understand that this makes
: better use of the cloth, and makes the kit cheaper, but next time I would
: shell out the extra cash to use a single piece with a bit more scrap.

: Dean