: Hello All,

: This posting is for novices like myself.
: The final varnish coat. I stapled up 2mil plastic drop cloths all
: around my boat to avoid dust. The bottom was sanded and wiped
: down several times with denatured alcohol. My entire shop was
: vacuumed including shelves.
: I proceeded to apply a perfect final coat on the bottom of the
: hull. I proudly stood back and smiled. This is a rare occasion
: for me... I very carefully squeezed out of my shop, closed and
: latched the door. I did not go in back and forth
: to inspect my work as I have previously done with prior
: applications of varnish. That I'm sure contributed to the specks
: of dust all over the surface.

: Three days later I inspected the boat. It was a successful
: application and was dry enough to turn over with the deck facing
: up. The varnish creeped underneath the sheer and ran onto the
: deck surface....I had taped the sheer line
: like I was supposed to, but the masking tape somehow leaked the
: varnish underneath and onto the deck. Should not have placed the
: sticky side exposed to the varnish. Sticky side of tape facing
: down, it allows the excess varnish to run down the tape. I tried
: scraping the hardened part but as Nick Shade mentioned on a
: recent posting, the ends should be rounded off, I think we
: should all do it. I was thinking about it while I was scrapping.

: The runs were still soft, I picked up an ice cream stick and
: started scraping. It turned into a gooey mess. Then I took a rag
: and saturated it with denatured alcohol and scrubbed the gooey
: mess. The scrubbing did the trick. It wiped off 90%. I could
: have gotten all of it had I known earlier, as 10% was already
: hardened .

: I will still have to sand and re-varnish the deck. That is an easy
: task for me as I can't even begin to count how many times I've
: done this before and has become enjoyable task as it offers some
: positive re-inforcement when I see it shine.
: This also forces me to apply additional U.V. protection to the
: deck. The previous coat of varnish was very dry and on a well
: sanded surface, so I am not too concerned that the denatured
: alcohol will damage the previous application.
: Prep today varnish again tomorrow
: douglas

HELLO GUYS,

I decided to sand and re-varnish the deck. The appearance is a little better except I managed to get small dust particles all over the deck. After it dried a week, I hand rubbed over and over with a polishing compound. This managed to remove quite a lot of dust that was stuck on the surface. I did use the descending grit sanding technique on small areas and it worked out perfect - finishing with 1500 wet/dry. If this did not work, I would have sanded and varnished again. The kayak is completed and all my friends and family say it is a piece of art. That is because they have never seen a stripper done correctly! All I could say was - my next one will be better. I promised my grandson this kayak when he was 4ys old. He is now 6ft. tall and just turned 16 yrs old.
I learned a whole lot from this posting, thanks guys.
For now, I'm off to my next nightmares. An O.I. and a 12 to 13 ft. double paddle sailing canoe for the younger progeny.
I hope you guys are around while I'm working on these because I foresaw issues when I was studying the plans for the O.I.

About 5 years ago, I read a posting here regarding a Wee Lassie that the builder decked with a small sail. The posting included photos. The posters name is Rick Cook from Pender Harbour, BC, Canada. I printed out the posting but did not print the pictures.
I can't find the original posting to contact Rick again. He asked me to keep him posted on my progress. It has been about 5 years since. Now that I am starting for real, I would like to touch bases with him. Help locating Rick?

Douglas
ps Will post photos when I learn how.