: . . . I'm still noticing some of the weave
: showing through (Normal?).

If you are seeing some rippling texture to the outer surface of your epoxy, that may be jsut a telegraphing of the weave. Probably the fabric is fully encapsulated, but the thick epoxy sitting on the top fibers is going to be higher than the thick epoxy sitting on the low fibers. If you want to put on a third fill coat with a squeegee, and aggressively remove any which is not buried in a well, then go ahead. Or, wait a week or two and see if you need it after you sand. Personally, I put on the third coat, and wish I had waited. It wasn't necessary.

: I've done a light sanding which shows
: up a little splotchy for reasons i'm unsure of, but have removed
: any noticable runs and other high spots.

I think you may have rushed the sanding. Let the epoxy HARDEN before you sand. That could take 4 or 5 days in warm summer weather, or a couple months in a heated garage over the winter. Until then, use a sharp tool, like a scraper, to cut away any of the mistakes while the resin is still relatively soft. Abrasives just smear things around. The good news is that once the resin is HARD, you can hit those same areas with a fine sandpaper and get rid of the splotches before putting on another coat of resin (if needed) or your varnish.

: Since some of the weave
: still shows I plan to apply a 3rd coat of epoxy, but..... should
: I proceed applying and squeegeeing as I have the previous 2
: coats, or, should I use a roller and foam brush to apply/smooth
: the new layer?

Epoxy is not "self-leveling" like wall paint. If you use a roller you'll end up applying an even coating over your boat. Where there are visible high spots from the cloth weave, you will still have visible high spots from the weave. We call this "telegraphing" Because of the thickness of the layer, you'll see texture, even though the fabric is well buried under the excess resin. If you use a squeegee, and maybe 4 ounces of resin (give or take a little) you apply the resin to the boat and then aggressively scrape off whatever is sticking to those higher areas of the previous coats. You want to leave behind only the tiny amount of resin it takes to fill in the tiny valleys. The edge of the squeegee rides over the hills. What the edge of your squeegee can't touch will be left behind in the valleys or wells. Then let it sit and harden.

Why do we do it this way? You could leave your fiberglassing after a good wetout coat. That gives you all the strength you can expect but you have a surface which is textured. Since the glass IS wetted completely, we know that All the glass fibers are already under a layer of resin on the highest parts. If that were not the case, we would see dry areas of glass fibers. The amount of resin over the high areas is slight, but it is enough. If we are going to achieve a flat, smooth surface, however, we can either sand down to the lowest spot (remove all the high areas) or we can fill the lowest spots (remove all the low areas).

If we take the first method and start sanding after only a wetout coat, we would certainly cut through the thin layer of epoxy on the uppermost fibers, and expose those to the elements. Cutting the fibers would weaken the fiberglass, and the exposed edges would absorb moisture over time, adding to the breakdown of the fiberglass.

Putting on a second coat gives us a buffer areas of extra resin over the high areas. When we remove all that extra resin by sanding, we get a smooth surface, and a lot of sanding mess.

If we can add resin to just those low areas, then a very light sanding smooths things without cutting through the resin on the surface of the high strands.

But a very light sanding calls for a fine grade of sandpaper, and the finer grit sandpapers clog very quickly with resin which is not rock hard.

Impatience will get you into a mess. If you try to sand the resin too soon, you'll need to use a coarser sandpaper. That may cut too deeply and then you have to patch the spots where you have sanded into the glass.

So, leave the sanding for a while, and go on with other work on the boat. If you've just finished the hull, let it sit (well protected in it's glass and resin) while you work on the deck. If the deck is done, crawl inside and fit the seat and footpegs. Or work on hatches, decklines and fittings, etc. Or go make a paddle. Just resist the temptation to tinker for a few days. That shiny resin coating is a good preview of what the boat will look like when it is smooth and varnished. Enjoy it as is for a while. And let it harden. Oh,and now is the time to start looking for plans for your next boat. :)

PGJ