Greetings All,

On the road to completing a Yost style Skin on Frame Kayak (Sea Rider). I will need to coat the edges and face of the plywood cross sections as well as for the lashings between the plywood cross sections and aluminum tubing (stringers, gunwales, chines). Can I get away with more affordable/cheaper 3M Fiberglass Resin & Hardener at the local big box store ($37/gal / $16/qt)? Will this also work well for the coaming as long as I use a polyurethane with uv inhibitors as the final few coats?

If this epoxy is unusable in this situation, would Raka epoxy with the non blush hardener be a good choice? It seems with their non blush harder, you can apply subsequent coats before the first previous coat dries - saving the hassle of waiting for each layer to dry and wet sand? - I am in South Florida - its currently around 80 or so degrees, will be getting in the 90s with 90+ humidity soon - should I consider their "tropical" hardener?

When joining 2 aluminum tubes together with an insert - can I just use epoxy or would it be advisable to reinforce the connections with rivets? Any recommendations on filler when joining a tube and insert (approx .2mm - .6mm gap)?

Thanks!,

Bob