I'm doing a few things out of order according to how the CLC manual says to do them. The manual has you fiberglass the inside of the hull first, but I glassed the keel tape the other day, and now I've glassed the outside of the hull.
For the first-time builder, epoxying the outside of the hull is MUCH easier than the inside and you'll learn a ton about how epoxy handles and such. That will set you up much better for success epoxying the inside later. I don't know why CLC has you do the hardest bit first... weird.
CLC has gone with 6 oz. cloth for this boat. That is heavier than the 4 oz. cloth that goes on most Pygmy kayaks and should make for a very strong hull. It's heavy though.
The cloth lays nicely and you can easily make it conform to the hull shape around the bow by gently, with both hands, spreading and smoothing the cloth downward. Gently pulling on the excess around the bow helps too. You'll be surprised by how much it will conform.
Once fully conformed, you can then trim the cloth with about two inches of excess.
The CLC Expedition Wherry manual does surprisingly little to walk first-time builders through any epoxying tips and tricks.
First, they only suggest that you use a roller to apply the epoxy. Rollers are notorious for pulling up the cloth as you roll. Skip the rollers entirely. There is a much better way to spread the epoxy...
Just use plastic epoxy spreaders. You'll start in the MIDDLE of the boat. Mix up about eight pumps of the MAS epoxy and pour it onto the keel on ONE side of the boat and work it gently back and forth in a roughly two-foot wide section. Don't work it too hard or you will create bubbles and/or starve the wood. Gently work it down to the sheer. It will create drips but less than you might think.
Secondly, and this is a hugely important step that they don't talk about, CLC does not have you squeegee the cloth to help it lay down. YOU MUST SQUEEGEE THE WETTED-OUT CLOTH! After you have completely spread the epoxy on that section, then go back immediately and, using the same spreader but with an empty epoxy container, methodically squeegee down from the keel to the sheer.
You'll quickly see that a large amount of epoxy comes up. That's okay. Squeegee a little way and then scrape the excess into your cup. Continue down from the keel to the sheer. Use a slightly higher pressure than when you were spreading the epoxy. The goals are to squeegee up excess epoxy and to have the cloth lay flat on the wood. If you don't squeegee, the cloth will 'float' over the wood and have noticeable ripples and waves and will not lay flat.
While squeegeeing, be careful to avoid taking up too much epoxy. You do not want to starve the wood or turn the cloth white. If the cloth is looking anything but completely clear then you are squeegeeing too hard. You want to help the cloth lay flat and to conform to the hull. You should bring up enough excess epoxy so that the weave is showing but still looks mostly wet. See pictures below.
Now squeegee that same area a second time to clean up the lines and get the final excess. However, don't wait too long. Do this immediately before going to the next section or you will be working with epoxy that is starting to cure. At that point you can make white streaks and ugly bits.
Whatever you do, don't use your fingers to squeegee anything! You
will quickly see that you can easily make a depression in the cloth that
will squish out epoxy where you pushed and it may not come back up.
Always use the squeegees and try your best to maintain a consistent
pressure.
Once you've spread and squeegeed epoxy on the one, two-foot section on one side of the boat, now repeat the same sized section on the other side of the boat. Then go back to the first side and do another section. Go back and forth from side to side, working forward and aft out of the middle toward the ends. It will take you a few hours to do this properly.
WARNINGS:
1. DO NOT USE THE EPOXY THAT YOU HAVE SQUEEGEED ON ANY OTHER CLOTH! It has too much air mixed in at that point. [Although, in the future when you're epoxying the inside of the hull, excess can be used to clear-coat the bare-wood bulkheads]
2. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR HOW MUCH EXCESS EPOXY IS IN YOUR SQUEEGEE CUP! Epoxy creates heat as it cures, and the more epoxy that is curing, the hotter it gets. YES, IT CAN CATCH FIRE! I pour my excess all over my garbage box to let it cure without puddling up.
3. Once you've moved to the next section, avoid the temptation to go back and squeegee that run you missed.... you might create a streak.
So, to review, in ONE SECTION at a time in the middle of the hull, on only ONE side of the hull, 1) spread epoxy with a spreader until the entire section is wetted out, 2) Squeegee the excess into a SEPARATE cup, 3) Do a second, light squeegee on the same area, 4) Move onto the same section on the other side of the boat.
Third, the manual has you wait until the epoxy is cured to trim the edges. That makes it harder and more dangerous. The cured epoxy edges can be very sharp. Plus, you can't cut through the small bead that builds up on the edges.
Instead, wait 3-8 hours depending on the temperature until the epoxy reaches what's called "the green stage". The excess cloth that hangs down from the sheer will still be pliable but not very sticky. It will be barely sticky at all and feel more like leather. At that point you can easily push a utility knife through the excess and run it completely around the hull. It cuts very easily as this stage.
IF the cloth starts to pull up then you are cutting too soon. Give it another few hours and try again.
Finally, after about 4-5 hours (you can do this before cutting the excess) you can paint on a second coat of epoxy. For this second coat you can use a roller if you wish, or you can just use a foam brush. You can even use a spreader. Just slap on a second coat. Try to avoid drips, runs, sags, curtains, etc... and do as neat of a job as you can, but it won't be perfect. All you are doing is adding a second layer that will eventually mostly be sanded off. It adds material that can be sanded without cutting into the cloth. So for that reason, you don't have to make it perfect.
You will now have a hull that looks... great(?)... but will have noticeable runs and boo boos. Don't worry... again, you'll be sanding the hull no matter how nicely of a job you did. Just let it cure and move on. You can see plenty of runs in my pictures.
When cured, flip the hull over and carefully sand the sharp edges of the sheer with a sanding block.
Next up.... epoxying the inside of the hull! This will be a lot more work and time than the outside (Which is the easy side to fiberglass!)
Aloha!
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