: I just looked at Epic's website, and they recommend sanding to 2000
: grit, and then polishing. Someone else said that scratches finer
: than 120 grit wouldn't cause any extra friction, except maybe in
: the first foot or so of an 18-foot boat. I guess I'm just going
: to have to get a bunch of sandpaper and go paddling! Thanks for
: the input. / LW

Sanding up thru 2000 grit then polishing is called color sanding, good way to get a perfect surface, also alot of work if you have to do it by hand. Each grit of sand paper will only take the scratches out of the next more course grit, so there are a heck of alot of steps getting to 2000. And you need a fairly heavy thickness of paint to start with or you'll wear thru it with all the sanding.

As mentioned before, if you want a perfect surface, it starts with the stripping and then the sanding of the wood, then the epoxy etc. If you don't do each step perfectly, the end result won't be what you want. Takes a serious amount of time and patience.

Bill H.