: 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
Right after we finished are SG Pyygmy there was the posting on how to rid the dark spots on the panel splices, we went ahead and finish the kayak and they have fade out. I work in house construction and have seen this all the time in wood floor patches, dark wood fades and light wood darkens. Because you have already spent so much time anyway I would set it in the sun for a day and let it rest in the shop for a week and see how it turns out. This is also a techneque furniture builders use to control color. I also had lots of problems on the first kayak, but don't thick of them when you've just blasted down a wave face and stuck the bow in the sand, the adrenal rush clouds the vision, thanks Nick. Just my two cents, it's your kayak and your sleepless nights.
Good luck,Don