: This is my second Pygmy. On my first one I had a terrible time wetting out
: the tape on the butt joints. On this one instead of tape I put down three
: inch wide pieces of six oz. glass leftover from the first boat. Much
: better. So far I have only done the seams that will be on the inside. My
: question is this: do you think I can get away with just doing the insides
: and stich it together like that? Would the normal exterior glassing
: without the tape on the outsides of the seams be adequate?

Matthew - I am building the Coho and discovered thru some unexpected rework that the glass tape and epoxy can be sanded cleanly from the butt joints after the the epoxy is fully cured. Wetting the joint thoroughly before applying tape makes it wet out better.

The tape and epoxy on external side of the butt joints seems to be needed only as a temporary bond. Once the boat was fully assembled, I sanded the deck in preparation for epoxy coating and sanded the butt joints clean of epoxy and tape. Random orbital sander and close attention to detail makes this an easy job. When I glassed over the deck, only the joint line was visible.

I have seen a number of Pygmies where this was not done. The area on either side of the joint appears lighter or dicolored relative to the surrounding deck; detracts from the overall finish of the boat. Wish I had done that on the hull as well before glassing it. Next boat. - Gene