I took the latest yak out to see if she would float or sink, and she floated. Unfortunately, the last fill coat apparently had 1 small batch of epoxy that had the must have had the wrong mix of hardener. So, I have 3 or 4 small (2-3 inch square) spots of semi-hardened epoxy that turned white/milky when I got the boat wet. The suspect areas are slightly tacky to the touch. It had been a week since the last coat of epoxy, and the temperature was ~80F for the first few days. I used Raka epoxy with fast hardener for these final fill coats in small batches. The problem area is confined to the places where I put the very last cup or two of epoxy on, so I am guessing that I got the mix wrong as I was finishing up. The rest of the epoxy is rock hard and totally clear.

The spots to be repaired are fortunately on the bottom of the boat and will not be very visible. It was the final fill coat, and I was trying to smooth out the telegraphed weave pattern, so most of it is above the cloth. There may be some in the cloth, and if so I guess I need to cut that section of cloth out and patch it.....

I was thinking about just waiting for it to dry, then covering over it with good epoxy, but delamination is a concern. If any moisture gets in there, it would probably turn milky again. So that is probably not a good idea.

I think I need to scrape off the epoxy in those spots, try to stay out of the cloth and put on another fill coat. I am thinking I just take a sharp chizel at a low angle and scape/peel it off. If I hit cloth, cut out a small section and patch it. I guess if the peice of cloth that I hit is small enough, I do not need to patch it because the structural integrety won't be effected. Another option would be to go at the spots aggresively with a ROS, then just put another layer of cloth over the whole section.

Any suggestions? How big of a hole in the cloth is to big? This is a wide, short fishing yak that will only see light duty in flat water, if that matters.

bvs