Patsy --

I think Don and Merl are on the right track. You want a pretty tight fit but you don't want to squeeze all the thickened epoxy out of the joints and leave them dry. Start by coating the gluing surfaces with unthickened epoxy and give it a few minutes to soak into the wood. Then coat with thickened glue and clamp in place. Wipe up any squeeze out. Even if almost all the thickened glue squeezes out, you'll tend not to be starving the joint because of the initial application of unthickened epoxy has already soaked into the surfaces.

Mike Scarborough
Friendship Kayak