Hi Ed, I like how you "persuaded" the strips to lay against the bow forms. And I've never seen a foam noodle used in quite that way before.

I see what you mean about the "curving square-edged" joints. I would say that if you can easily slip your fingernail in the joint, you probably should fill it with thickened epoxy (or filler of your choice). If it's narrower than that and the seam is closed on the inside, you should be able to rely on the epoxy to fill up the crack. Since you do have many cracks, you may want to consider doing a fill coat before laying your cloth. That way you won't get starved cloth cause by epoxy running through cracks and onto the floor.

Regarding the low spots: if your decorative strips are thick enough, you may be able to fair the low spots by sanding a larger area. I had a few spots on my Guillemot deck where the rough strips were off by nearly 1/8", but because my strips started out > 1/4", I was able to fair a large area without sanding through. It's kinda thin in a couple places, but nobody will ever know (and who cares anyway?).

Good luck on the rest of your boat.

> I am finished stripping the hull of my Guillemot Expedition Single, and
> have completed 75% of the deck. I am thinking about the next phase where I
> remove the forms and "fair" the hull and deck. Here is my
> question: Just how fair should the surface be? I have read Nick's book
> about twenty times, and all the illustrations that show sections of the
> boat still attached to the forms are of lovely, already fair strips, all
> being good neighbors to one another. The only exception is the one where
> "one strip wound up a little low" and a small wedge shaped patch
> was placed over it.

> I chose an artistic detail that produced several low spots, due to the
> unfortunate combination of my inexperience as a stripper (I could actually
> watch my skills improve from the hull to the deck, thanks for the
> suggestion to do them in that order, Nick) and from the way the detail
> strips went together. I dread having to fill in these many small spots
> with matching colored and shaped patches. How much depth can be made up in
> epoxy? I like the idea of compensating with a clear fluid instead of
> puzzle pieceing together scores of different colored, different shaped
> patches.

> I also have many spots where there are gaps in the joints, not just in
> long, straight bead/cove joints, but in irregular, curving square-edged
> board joints. I think wood putty or epoxy-wood flour will cut down the
> draft blowing through the worst of these, but I am looking for some
> guidance on how large they can be and still be ignored. I mean, what
> minimum size must be fixed? Toothpick sized, with the grain? Will that
> show? I already have used approximatley 6% of the world's known reserves
> of staples, so a "jewelry quality" finish is no longer an issue,
> but I would like a reasonably clear and smooth surface. I am sure this is
> the time to make it so, rather than waiting to do it at the glassing or
> varnishing stage.

> By the way, for those of you confused by my description of the artistic
> (hehe) detail and why it is giving me grief, here is the directory of my
> pics (no page yet, just pics). For those of you interested in seeing the
> early stages of the construction process, check the same directory. The
> filenames with the letter "a" in them are thumbnails.

> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/7217/kayak/img /

> All input is welcome. Thanks in advance.

> Ed Valley