: Hi folks.

: I'm getting ready to 'glass the insides of the deck/hull of my Guillemot-L.
: I'm wondering -- How sloppy can I be here? How much can I get away with?
: Do I really need to spend much time sanding/etc.? I'm thinking I can just
: do minimal planing/sanding, fill the major cracks, sand it down a little
: again, and then get down with the epoxy.

: Is that a decent strategy? Any gotchas I should keep an eye out for?

: Also, I'm thinking about using some fiberglass cloth scraps to deal with the
: ends, and then the larger portion of cloth for the middle section (hatch
: to hatch). I'll also use some of the scraps in an effort to reinfoce the
: coaming down there. Is this a sound strategy, or is there a reason why I'd
: want to go 'whole-cloth' in this unseen area of the boat?

: Thanks. You guys rock, BTW!

: Rick Brannan
: http://www.supakoo.com/rick/kayak

While you need not be concerned with the visual quality of the finish of your interior glass job it is important to have a smooth surface to apply the glass to for strength.

Level any high spots with a scraper or (Nick's favorite) a plane. Fill any gaps or low spots with a water based wood filler, which sets fast and sands easy.

I sand with a ROS and 60 grit. This works fast.

Then lay out your glass and wet-out. No need for a seal coat here. You will need to add more glass around the cockpit and perhaps the rear and front decks if you ever plan to climb on the back deck for re-entry, or pull a boat up on your front deck during a rescue.

Still, it's important to work with the temperature dropping so you won't have air bubbles coming up from the air expanding out of the wood cells. This creates pin holes which are impossible to fill and will allow water to get into your wood.

Squeegee off the excess resin.

Add a second coat of resin once the wet-out has reached a tack free stage, to seal the wood. The resin with the wet-out is not enough to create a waterproof surface. This will also feed any resin starved spots from the initial wet-out.

All the best,

Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.LaughingLoon.com