: I am nearly done refinishing my stripper. Some gouges repaired,
: some new patches of fiberglass here and there, etc.

: About to give it a smoothing coat of epoxy over all. I know it
: needs to cure before I can clear-coat it, and I'd really like to
: get back in the water with it without waiting all summer, so my
: questions are:

: How long should the epoxy be allowed to cure before being
: clear-coated?

: How much UV exposure can it handle if I go out and paddle it before
: adding the clear-coat UV protection?

: Is there any reason I can't use something like 303 protectant for
: UV protection, directly on the epoxy layer, for the rest of this
: season, then clean it off before clear-coating for a more
: permanent UV protection?

: Roger Turgeon
: Orr's Island, ME

Hi Roger,
Firstly, don't put anything on the kayak before you varnish/clearcoat it. That makes for more work in prepping for coating, even if it doesn't turn out to be a 'permanent' problem.

You can use the kayak for the summer with just epoxy as the surface finish. I would do the finish coat to where I'd finish for varnishing, and do one more coat of epoxy as a sacrificial finish. At the end of the season, wash and sand the surface for varnishing as you'd do normally.
From what I've seen, epoxy UV degrades from the surface in and takes a good while to break down, months at least before it starts to get problematic. Years before it breaks down fully. I had a glass/epoxy fishing rod that got left out in the sun a lot over twenty years and it was still fine until it got burned (by accident).

Mike Savage
South West Cork