But you can easily drape plastic over a kayak with a
: home made rack to suspend it and cut your cubic dimensions down
: to less than a quarter of heating a work space. A small space
: heater under the boat will do the job and you won't kill
: yourself. The electric bill will not go up that much either with
: the newer ceramic heaters.

: If you can build a boat, you can certainly make some hangers to
: make a plastic tent over a kayak. A 2nd set of hand pulling it
: over the boat would help.

I would agree with Jay that if you can reduce the volume of air around your boat
you will have more control of the heat using an electric space heater.

I have the oil filled heaters which would require an additional fan to circulate the heat.
A ceramic heater with a built in fan may work but you must be sure the heat does not
hit the boat directly. I'm not sure if the exposed electric element would pose any fire hazard.

With control over heating you can do a good transparent lay-up.

Home builders post these same questions on this BB every year as the temperature drops and they
want to keep working on their boats in a unheated work space.

Doing your glass wet-out is the ONE TIME it's really critical to have control over the heat around your boat
to get the best results.

You need a plan to capture and hold as much heat as possible for at least six hours. Here's what I would suggest.

First, Pick the warmest day of the week to do your glassing and make sure you'll have a cloudy night so temperatures don't
plummet!

Second, your biggest heat loss will be to air escaping from your shop building. Block any holes, gaps under garage doors
staple plastic over leaky windows. If you have an open ceiling with rafters put up a layer of plastic to stop the heat
from going up and out the roof.

NOTE! If you will use an unvented heater, like a kerosine or propane space heater you MUST have a fresh air
source, so block off everything, THEN choose a door to crack while the heater is on. When you reach the time to
glass and shut off the heater, then. close the door.

DO SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE TO MISS to remind you to open that door!!!!!

Every buffer to heat loss you can make will decrease the heat loss. Every layer of dead air provides more insulation.
BUT, most heat is lost to air escaping, so make sure you have no holes or places where the heat can leak through a hole
near the ceiling.

If you have a big work space use plastic sheeting to create a smaller work space, say 10' X 20'. Clamp or screw 2x to the ceiling to support plastic walls.

Then for your wet-out make an even smaller space with a lower ceiling to keep more heat in. You can make overlapping
plastic doors, closed with spring clamps to keep in heat.

Heat your larger space with bigger heaters, and put a smaller, oil filled electric heater in your glassing tent so they'll work together.

Place the electric heater off one end of your boat and use a fan to circulate the heat. Make sure heat is not directed AT your boat. Keep this heater on after you shut off the larger heaters.

Finally, get the whole place up to at least 75˚, 80˚ is better. Shut off your big heaters. Watch the temperature stay steady or
drop a degree, and start glassing.

Any additional ideas?

Take the time now to think and plan how you can retain the most heat in your shop for this step and you will be very glad you did.

Rob