Chris,

I'd have to say, too, that Bobby's pictures look too much like they've just been wet out. I'd put at least one more fill coat so that you won't sand into the cloth. You don't have to make the weave disappear completely, but it should look more 'washed out'.

I used a roller to do my fill coats but didn't squeegee. I ended up with more epoxy than I needed, and using the roller leaves a wavy texture. I'd definitely use a squeegee next time. It wipes epoxy off the high spots where you don't need to add epoxy, and fills the low spots where you do want it.

Don't worry about the surface not looking like show quality, whether it be some texture or some streaks from squeegee'ing. The final sanding and varnishing will clean up those little imperfections.

From the sounds of it, I think you're right on track. Don't bother doing a full sanding until you're ready to do finish your boat.

Dean

: That looks a lot like mine did after just the first wet-out. The
: glass was saturated but you could still see the texture of the weave.
: I thought the idea of the fill coats was to fill in the dimples formed
: by the weave so that you have a smooth surface.

: In my case the ripples I have now aren't caused by the glass lifting,
: it's just from the uneveness of the fill coats. I got some small runs,
: and some ridges left from smoothing the fill coat with a squeegie.

: Maybe that's my problem - still using the squeegie. Maybe I should be
: using a roller to apply the fill coat. Perhaps that'll leave me with
: a smooth coat that doesn't need to be sanded.

: So is the idea to leave the final coat unsanded? Or is it like finishing
: furniture, where you apply the finish, then sand with progressively finer
: grits until you get the shine you want?