now..do you feel you got it sanded smooth well enough that you don't need to sand into the wood at all anymore? What about when you attach the deck and hull along the shear where the most stubborn sanding/filling takes place..

I want to stain but i keep getting these mental aversions about items like the slight blotchiness you are dealing with.

If your using captains varnish that might darken it up a bit.

: I dyed the kayak today. It's Solar Lux Blood Red with 10% retarder put on by
: hand. I've never really used a dark stain or dye like this and it was
: harder than I supposed it was going to be. It's not exactly blotchy, but I
: can tell it was hand applied. I can live with it, because it looks very
: cool. I wouldn't mind it slightly darker and I think if I do this again,
: I'm going to mix about 70/30 Blood Red/Black.

: What I'm wondering is will the color darken if I add a second coat? Will the
: epoxy darken it like it does with cedar?