Any opinions -- that was a joke, right? You sound like a trouble maker. :) Also, you say 'coastal saltwater', but that really doesn't say much; for instance, Jay Babina paddles Outer Islands in coastal saltwater and so do I, but he seal launches and lands, storm-tossed, on boulders and crags, whereas I mush along in mud and sand. When he hears me talk about my layups, you can almost feel the poor man cringe. But whatever, on to the opinions!

I'm starting to like 4 oz plain weave s-glass a lot. My latest, a second Outer Island, features 4 oz s-glass inside and out with a football doubler inside and out, and 4 oz s-glass inside the deck with 3.25 oz satin weave e-glass outside. On my Merlin canoe I did 4 oz e-glass inside and out, plus a doubler of 6 oz e-glass inside and out of the football because of the large, relatively flat area. It turned out perfect; the boat weighs 33 lbs and is plenty stiff and strong enough to stand in, which I've been doing routinely going on three years now. 4 oz e-glass can seem a little light, therefore I decided to go with 4 oz s-glass and feel more confident.

In any case, my motto is: "If it breaks, I'll fix it and make it stronger", and I almost never have to fix stuff because I built it too light.

The trick to getting light weight boats is watching each and every gram of weight that goes into it, and trying to dream up a way to live without it. Doing a little shade tree engineering to determine your layup instead of just using the standard one-size-fits-all 6 oz inside and out is a great way to go. It can require a little courage and daring sometimes, but hey, that's part of the fun, right?

: I just glassed my boat with 4oz..complete. I added an extra layer
: to the football..and one on the hull floor..an extra
: layer underneath the deck.

: This used about half the epoxy i used compared to my last two boats
: and saves about 10 lbs.

: I may chicken out and add a layer of 6 oz to the inside of the
: hull, it will be a heavy use boat, coastal saltwater.

: Any opinions?