Yo Pete

I am never going to make the talk since I'm in New Zealand (maybe next year if I win some money? )

As a first time builder 'long time listener', in no particular order:
* that image on artificial rice paper wetted out under glass thingy is pretty cool.
* Amine Blush for me was the stuff of legends until I sea tested my minimax speed boat and wondered what all that tea coloured water was doing in my cockpit. With a kayak most of this gets washed into the sea and you never really believe all that blush talk. A bit of fibreglassed something and a cup of tea in front of it might do the trick.
* As you progress, a first time builder never really knows what the finish is going to be like. I was a bit gloomy after I had finished sanding my guillemot s&g before the first coat of varnish ... I reckon a longish piece of ply, sheathed and with a piece of tape on it (simulating keel rubbing strip); raw at one end, faired and ROS-ed in the middle and varnished at the end might alleviate a few fears and/or a bit of angst and help promote a few more 'bright finish' converts.
*Dookie smooze. Handy stuff, you could have a competition for "your favourite recipe"
*Green fibreglass scraping with a scraper - man that is a time saver!
* a fine collection of rubber gloves, respirators, epoxy impregnated overalls and other safety stuff.

Well that's all. By the way, I am a converted dump and squeegie fanatic. I tried everything else ... too bad I didn't start with it.

Cheers Pete