Aurther,
Congradulations on getting this far. This is the fun part the boat jsut jumps out at ya as your putting on the glass coats

Fiberglassing may feel like the big commitment move, but if you stay on it and sweat the details it should work out just fine.

Sanding with 120 will work just fine. Beleive it, the natural inclination to go finer and finer is just adding steps. 120 grit sanding will disapear under the epoxy. Returning to 80 is probobly unecessary. I have seen folks go to 220 and while its less purchase for the glass to hold onto it seems to have held.

Brushes, this is like fairing tools. Everyone has their favorite way. I have come to like using just acid brushes. It keeps a thinner coat and cuts the runs. Keeps me working smaller areas more precisely. THe biggest thing is to baby sit the boat and keep working out the drips with the acid brush until the coat tacks up. If you go the acid brush route keep a lot on hand.

Its OK to sand the seal coat, but if its really good one with out drips etc. I like just giving her the lightest sanding and then apply the fabric coat while the seal coat is still green Between 24 and 36 hours. If there is a drip in it same thing knock the heads off while still green with a finger plan and work it back to smooth with a foam block with a piece of sand paper around it. I use 100 grit.

I haven't built the North Star so I don't know about the specifics of your last question. Bidarka's are diffrent from other shapes in that the bow and cheek plates break up a single curve. My suggestion would be to e-mail Rob Macks. He would know what works best in these areas. I am guessing (and it just a guess) those corners are like seams. Run the hull and deck pieces out to the edge then run the smaller piece up and over 2 inches or so and then afterwards feather it. HAving said that check with Rob for what he had in mind in those sections. Let us know what you find out on this. As others will want to know too

The only thing that is hard to recover from is a bad batch. So measure carefully. Don't work when your tired and likely to forget or mix something backwards.

Good luck, enjoy the process and post pics

!RUSS