: I seem to remember reading something about giving the deck &
: hull a wipedown with a water-dampened cloth prior to applying
: epoxy in order to reduce the size and constrast of staples
: holes. The moisture is supposed to swell the wood and make the
: holes smaller - almost invisible. Epoxy is then applied, locking
: in the smaller staple holes forever. I am about to epoxy
: pre-coat my deck, but wonder if adding moisture to the wood with
: this technique won't end up clouding my finish. Am I mistaken?
: Is this a simple fix to staple holes that works? Is there a
: certain procedure that needs to be followed in order to avoid
: clouding? Is moistening the surface a bad idea that WILL cloud
: my finish? I'd like to make the holes as unobtrusive as
: possible, but don't want to bother filling them with a batch of
: epoxy goop that means I'll have to sand again.

Common practice is to sand the wood, then wetout to raise the grain and close the holes, and then sand a final time.
In my experience, this will fill the holes, at least pertially, with sandingdust which in turn will make stapleholes seem darker as the dust absorbs
more resin than solid wood.
What i do, is wetout my hull/deck to close the holes BEFORE any sanding has taken place, then sand everything nice and smooth and finish off
with another cycle of wetout and finishsanding, this time to raise the woodfibres compressed during sanding.
This is another step i know, but i find it worth it, the end result beeing that much better.
BTW i mostly use the paler woodspecies, maybe with dark WRC this method is overkill, if so plese disregard.

Sand
Denmark