> Greetings. I've reached the point where I'm ready to start applying epoxy.
> I've read that I should use a sealer coat before laying glass down - true?
> Why wouldn't the epoxy penatrate the glass to perform as a sealer if I did
> it in one step? Any comments would be most appreciated!

I've just this past week finished fiberglassing the hull and deck of my Guillemot. If I had it to do over, this is how I would proceed and why:

Since I stripped with the "cove side up" I would apply the glass and epoxy to the outside hull/deck at the same time. With the cove side up, the epoxy ran in and filled any visible voids. I checked on it once or twice in the first few hours and found only a couple of air pockets.

On the inside of the deck/hull, I would seal, then glass. The reason I would do this is because on the inside the "cove side is down", which prevents the epoxy from just running in and filling voids. The problem I had in the interior is that bubbles/voids appeared throughout the kayak, many of them several hours after laying down the glass. I had to work much harder on the interior glassing than the exterior to get out the voids/bubbles. By sealing first, I *think* it would help prevent these trapped air pockets. I might would even try appying the sealer coat then immediatly turn the kayak over to let the epoxy run into the cove. I haven't tested that though.

Now, having said that, don't sweat it. The exterior went down very well and the interior is 1) not seen much and 2) easy to fix with a hyperdermic and some epoxy. I'm not sure what the structural reason is for sealing everything first, maybe someone else will answer that.

Woody