More than two gallons of epoxy? Wow! I used roughly 5/7ths of a gallon when I built the VJ, a 17' Waters Dancing Lightning 17. That includes sanding, which would have removed some of that epoxy I used. I used 6-oz glass, added two bulkheads, a S&G seat and backrest combo AND built in a S&G under-the-deck storage compartment.

I'd say you are using considerably mor eepoxy than you need and not squeegeeing off excess epoxy during filleting, glass layup and fillcoating. You don't need any more epoxy in the joints than a thin line to fill that small crevice when doing the filleting. During glassing you should scrape off excess epoxy with a squeegee so that the glass is not floating on top of a layer of epoxy and the weave just shows - that is, without scraping off so much epoxy that you starve the glass. During fill coating, you add layers of epoxy until the weave just disappears. This method of applying epoxy assures you of a very strong structural intergrity while keeping the weight as low as possible. End pours should be no more than one-inch deep for a maximum length of two feet from bow/stern tip to hull. Oh yeah, I built mine from a kit that used 4-mm okhume mahogany plywood. At 45-lbs, I think I did well. Even my rebuilt kayak weighs in a 45 lbs with all the extra stuff I used to put ehr back together again.

I think that with this in mind, you will be very happy with the end results.

I hope this helps.

Robert N Pruden