Wetting the wood and swelling the grain is a popular way to final sanding on Greenland paddles. If you're nervous about doing this on a kayak, do it on a paddle first, and it will make a believer of you.

Shawn

: I use a big kayak bailer type sponge to wet my hull/deck wood after rough
: sanding with 60 grit on a ROS.

: If you sanded with 60 grit and did not wet the wood down to raise the grain
: you would need to sand much more aggresively to remove the depth of the
: 60 grit cut marks. You'd have to use 80 grit to get out the 60 grit cut.
: Wetting down the wood eliminates this and lets you start finishing with 120
: grit.

: The sponge is wet, but not dripping. I go over the wood quickly getting it
: wet and do have some water dripping off as the sponge is compressed. I
: squeeze
: extra water over any staple holes which makes them totally close. The cut end
: grain
: of the staple will still show up as a dark mark, so this does not make the
: staple holes
: invisible. Closing up the staple holes is a help when you glass the interior
: of your boat
: because open staple holes tend to blow bubbles in your resin even with
: dropping
: temperatures to prevent off-gassing of the air in the wood cells.

: I use staples below the waterline on my boats and hot glue to work stapleless
: above the
: waterline and deck.

: The is only so much water that the wood can absorb in the brief pass of the
: wet sponge.
: It's far less than you would imagine and is not enough to cause problems with
: wood
: expansion or glue lines. The surface is usually ready to sand in an hour.
: Wetting the wood will reveal the consistency of the sanded surface,
: show any missed glue blotches and any deep scar/bruises in the wood that
: would be
: otherwise invisible. This gives you the chance to fix them before you move on
: to finish
: sanding and glass wet-out.

: If you soaked the wood for a long period of time, that would be very
: different and would cause problems.

: I use Tie-Bond II glue which is waterproof, but not because it is waterproof.
: I use Tie-Bond II
: because it has the highest temperature rating of all the
: "carpenter's" glues which means it can take more
: heat from the sun on your finished boat and not soften and shift.

: All the best,
: Rob Macks
: Laughing Loon CC&K
: www.laughingloon.com