I am SOOOOOOOOO depressed right now! After over 200 hours of work, I blew it. Last Thursday evening, I was doing final preperations for glassing the deck. There were spots (about 20) that had very fine, hairline imperfections, that I wanted to take out before glassing.

I mixed up some Durham's and tinted it with Rit Dye. I did skim coats on the imperfections, just to see if it really was a thin imperfection. Once it dried, I sanded the Durhams until the old wood color was back and only the hairline imperfection was filled in. Wiped everything down to get the dust off. Life was good.

Next evening, I did the glassing. This is when the horror set in.

Every spot that I skim coated with Durhams the prior night is a mess. Where it had looked like I had sanded all the unwanted Durhams away, I apparently had not. I now have about 20 patches of slightly darker wood.

Here's what I'm thinking.... tell me if it will work and/or is there a better idea. I'm going to suck it up and finish the boat. I'm hoping that 5-6 coats of varnish will have somewhat of a "hiding" effect due to the yellow hue that it will probably impart to the boat. Is that true or false?

Second, once I have the boat in the water, I can pick and choose the spots that I want to work on further. I'll pick the spots, sand right through the varnish and glass to the bare wood, getting rid of the surface of the wood and the Durhams stuff. Than put in a patch of glass, filler coats and varnish.

I figure I would rather get the boat in the water and start paddling it, then pick a two week stretch over the winter when I won't be paddling and do the "fixes".

What do you think? Is there a better, faster way? Should I do it now, not later? Will the patches blend in witht he surrounding wood such that the "fix" will be invisible once done? Anything else?

Rick