: Now I'm wondering, with all thos efumes if the gopher wasn't just so stoned
: from the fumes he just couldn't move. I'm betting the little guy took
: off to order his own kayak plans coz you impressed him so much he just had
: to build one for hisself.

: Robert N Pruden

Very good Robert!!!!

You have no idea how much I needed a good laugh after such a frustrating day! That was absolutely, very timely.

First of all: I went out to inspect my previous days work this morning, and much to my dismay, I found that I had squeegeed too much epoxy out of the area on both ends of the hull leaving a few white spots. What caused this??? Well, Half of my lights went out late last night while I was working on the hull and I really couldn't see all that well . . APPARENTLY!! I realized that I had done this on the stern end and I thought I had pulled enough resin back in - not so.

Solution #1: Send wife to HD to buy better lights first, then . . I lightly sanded down to the top of the glass to open it up so it would be receptive to the next coat of epoxy. That seemed to work when I put the next fill coat on. Will see in the morning

Second: I put a short layer of glass on the deck yesterday from about 10" in front of the cockpit to about 6" behind the cockpit. Every thing looked good. I feathered the edges today and applied a fill coat. It did not wet out completely clear in the areas in front of and behind the cockpit where I feathered the edges of the second layer. Before the fill coat, I used a cabinet scraper and sanded by hand on these areas, then vacuumed, then wiped with a towel wet with water, then lightly wiped with an old tack cloth. The only thing I can figure out . . I didn't get all the sanding dust out. It only stands to reason - if you sand green epoxy, the "dust" (if you can call it that!!) sticks together. And, if you don't get it all off, it may not absorb the next coat of epoxy. The bad part is . . its over the dark wood - somewhat obvious.

Solution #2A: Don"t look at it and pretend its not there!

Solution #2B: Sand it all off and re-do.

Solution #2C: Never, never, never, EVER piece glass on the outside of another boat!!!!

My Choice: Solution #'s 2A and 2C.

THEN: When I was working on the hull, adding a piece of glass down the keel, about 6" to each side, I kept looking and thinking about the deck where I had added that short piece of glass around the cockpit. I had that piece nearly wet out down the keel line and then it happened. Solution #2C jumped all over me and I had that piece on wet glass in the garbage before I even knew what happened!! I Sure hope I've got enough glass for another full layer.
Oh well! If I don't, it will paddle with 8 oz on the hull instead of 12, at least for a while anyway. So, I just added a fill coat to the hull instead.
My wife got a laugh out of me anyway tonight. We were both getting tired and I asked her to mix 3 oz of epoxy to finish that fill coat on the hull, which she did. As I poured a little down one side and squeegeed it off, I noticed that I didn't have any left in the cup to finish the other side! Then we saw the epoxy trail on the floor. Apparently, when I leaned over while squeegeeing off the first side of the hull, the cup in my hand leaned over too. Guess when such as that starts, its time to call it a day.

Anyway, tomorrows another day. Its a good thing these little imperfections don't cause our boats to ride lower in the water.

Perfection remains THE ILLUSIVE BUTTERFLY OF LOVE!

Happy Building. And, thanks for your humor!!

Charles.