Pinguino Interior Fiberglassed

Big step today... I fiberglassed the inside of the hull. This is always the trickiest part of the entire kayak build, but I'm afraid I didn't do my best work. It's... okay... but not great.

I started by running tape around the #4 panel 3/4" up from the seam. The bottom of this tape is where I'll cut the cloth once it reaches the green stage.

Then I smoothed out an extra piece of fiberglass cloth that I purchased from Pygmy. The manual says that enough cloth is included with the kit, but they require you to cut two overlapping triangles from one piece. I've done it and it doesn't usually look good. It also leaves way too many pulled out threads. I prefer to just buy an extra piece the length of the boat.

Then I started on the epoxy. I'm a "two squeegee" guy and I don't use the rollers. It's all done with a squeegee and a chip brush.

The few runs and sags that I have would not have necessarily been avoided if I used a roller, and I would argue that the rollers more often simply try to pull the cloth up. Squeegee's are better.

In the picture below you can really see the worst of it. Most of it will eventually be hidden, or can be cleaned up a bit, but still... sigh!

Here is how it looked several hours later after I came back and trimmed the cloth just below the tape, and then pulled the tape and excess cloth off.

This is only my fifth kayak, so I think it's okay given that I only build one every few years or so. But unless you do this several times a year then you'll probably get a couple bubbles and a few spots along the seams where the cloth doesn't perfectly lay down. Just deal with it. Few people will notice it.

Cheers!

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