I just wanted to post up and mention that I'm about to start up work again on the kayak. It's been hanging out in the garage for the past few months with the fiberglass removed from the discolored areas and the places where it was no longer bonded to the wood. I checked for rot using the method described by Bill, and it appears that the resistance to the knife is about the same everywhere I checked. I'm thinking I dodged a bullet there since I'm really not setup for replacing strips.

While I was at work I managed to sneak off to the bookstore while in port and picked up a copy of KayakCraft, by Ted Moores. I did not realize at the time that he's the man behind Bear Mountain Boats. Between this book and Shade's "Building Strip-Planked Boats" I think I'm able to sort out quite a bit as to how this boat was built. I just want to double check on the method typically used for securing the deck to the hull. From what I can tell in KayakCraft, the deck and hull are NOT fiberglassed together, i.e. they are fiberglassed separately and then connected using screws and epoxy with no fiberglass covering the seam. Am I understanding this correctly?

For the areas that are still discolored, I'm going to give the Oxalic acid a shot. From what I've been able to gather from the owner it's not likely that any dyed wood was used to make the boat.

I do have a couple of questions regarding the fiberglass. The first up is, what weight? KayakCraft mentioned 4oz and 6oz cloth. I'm thinking about 4oz cloth for the work on the deck and 6oz cloth on the hull. I'd also like to add a reinforcing strip of fiberglass on the bow and stern where the boat will likely make first contact during beachings/groundings. Is this advisable or is there a better method for protecting these sections?

I've been looking at West System epoxies and was planning on picking up a group size "A" batch of resin and hardener. From what I can gather, I'll need to use the #207 hardener for the clearest epoxy finish. Will I need any kind of filler material for replacing the patches of fiberglass? I'm leaning towards no, but figured I'd ask while I have your guys' attention.

Final question (finally!): I'm working in an unheated garage and the info I have on the epoxy hardener states a 60* minimum working temperature. It also recommends having lots of ventilation. Is the minimum working temperature the minimum temp at which it will cure, or will the epoxy be too thick to work with below that temp? I was thinking about applying the epoxy with the garage open and then closing the door and using a radiant heater pointed at the work to aid curing while I hide out in the house. Is this a bad idea? Is there a better way of doing this? I've considered waiting for the weather to warm up, but I'm in Bellingham WA and who knows when we'll be above 60* (heck, today we've had rain, snow, hail, more rain, and then sunshine).

Thank you again for your help!

Louis