: I am making progress on my kit boat.
: I went to West Marine and purchased some West system epoxy, The
: hardner that came with the kit (MAS-don't ask how many years I
: have been working on this) is pretty yellow. Since I can't get
: it locally I picked up the West system and the hardner (207?)
: for clear applications. I am trying to get it finished and would
: like the deck to be as clear as possible. The two epoxies will
: be separated and the MAS has cured for a very long time. Seems
: hard to end up with just the right amount of epoxy/hardner/cloth
: guess I will have to build another boat to use up what I have on
: hand when I finish this one.
: I also got some spar varnish which is packed under the West Marine
: label, says it is made by
: The directions say to dilute the first 3 coats as these are sealer
: coats.
: Question: When I am applying it to cured epoxy is it still a good
: idea (absolutely required for good results) to dilute a sealer
: coat(s).

: I have applied a 50 dilute mix to the interior of the hull figure
: the protection won't hurt and a lot easier to do now with no
: deck on it and I am hoping it will be lighter that another
: coating of epoxy.
: This kit was my first boat. Before I got it finished I built a SOF
: F-1 at Brian's building class. Goes a lot faster when you have
: the designer as your teacher and build all day long.

: Looking forward to another class this time with Wolfgang Brinck--a
: Badarka. I think I am being drawn to the SOF side :)

: Thoughts, comments or dire warning about any of the above are
: certainly welcome.
: For any of you who will be in San Diego later this month, I will
: have both boats with me no matter how close to finished the
: Arctic Hawk is I sure hope I can put it in the water soon,

: Thanks to all for sharing all the tips and knowledge, now can
: someone point me to the kayak building syndrome recovery
: website?
Hi John,
Firstly ,there's no syndrome recovery from what you've got yourself into,just pace yourself.
Secondly,West 207 has some excellent UV inhibitors in it already.I'm not saying don't varnish with UV inhibitors on top but I am a paddler and I don't care too much for so called finishing so have endured 2 x NZ year x 1000 km with just epoxy and we get sun burnt in 10 minutes down here.My boats are still looking good ,on top...
cheers from Paul .NZ