Sounds as though you are well and truly committed. It will be good to keep your working space slightly warm when you are working with epoxy -- the curing process slows down when your working space gets below 50-55 degrees.

Your first steps, when you are gluing the strips together, are good opportunities to learn about working with epoxy, and to make mistakes. Almost any mistakes you make at this stage can be fixed with sandpaper and elbow grease. Putting plastic under your work is a good idea, as many of us who glued their first plank to the table can attest. I found that plastic film has a tendency to wrinkle, making odd striations in the epoxy when it dries. Try using hard-surface plastic, such as that found in document covers or at your friendly TAP Plastics store (mylar or acetate) to eliminate these wrinkles. Use trimmed sheets under and over your joints when you glue them, and use your squeegee to remove excess epoxy oozing out from under the plastic to prevent a buildup that you'll have to sand down later. Later in the process -- if it's the same as used for Pygmy's kayaks -- you'll sand the glass tape off of your hull before you glass the entire hull. The tape is used to connect the strips while you stitch the boat together -- it's not structurally significant.

You might consider buying a cheap 4'x8' sheet of plywood, ripping it down the middle lengthwise, and using the two pieces butted together over sawhorses as a table on which to work with your hull. It's nice to have the boat fully supported on a level table and at a reasonable working height as you wire and glue the panels together. Once you have the hull formed, you'll move it off of the table and onto supports or sawhorses.

Go buy yourself LOTS of latex gloves, a respirator, a shop apron and maybe some Tyvek sleeves to keep your working clothes clean. It will be easy to go through 100 pairs of vinyl gloves before you complete this project. Eye protection is another smart move, and ear plugs are handy as you work with your sander and your shop-vac. Might as well look for good buys on sandpaper as well -- you'll go through a lot of it since it tends to load up with epoxy as you smooth your finish. Do you have a good scraper? They work well for taking off the epoxy drips and runs that inevitably occur. I found that a Stanley Sureform -- the smallest model -- works well in quickly removing epoxy drips and runs from the surface or edges of your work. Get some white vinegar or alcohol for cleaning up hands and tools -- much more healthy than acetone. You'll go through lots of paper towels too -- lay in a supply.

You'll need good lighting for your project, particularly when you start glassing and applying fill coats. It's worth while figuring out how to bring in several 8' florescent light fixtures over your boat. Work lights are adequate, but you'll need to be able to move them around while you work on your boat.

You've got a great boat -- you'll be knocked out as it starts to take shape and again when you get a coat of epoxy on the wood and you can see the beautiful, honey-brown color you'll enjoy for the boat's lifetime.

Jim