> Well, our livingroom has been transformed. An Osprey Standard kit is
> unpacked under the coffee table to dry (as I mentioned earlier), and a
> Coho kit is leaned up in the hallway. The rest of the space is taken up by
> an 18 foot long table which, when tarps are purchased, layed, and the
> table is assembled, will displace our dining table.

> In the coming months, Louise and I will be assembling the Osprey and Coho
> motivated by having to crawl under that table to get to our front door.
> :-) And, of course, by the already overwhelming desire to see the finished
> products and get them out on the water! I'm sure that y'all will be
> hearing from us as we make progress, reach decision points, and experience
> difficulties. We're planning on taking lots of pictures and putting them
> up on a web page.

> This weekend, initial setup, tool and supply purchasing, and making stain
> samples. We're thinking of staining the wood to get a redder, more cedar
> like color; any suggestions for stains to lookfor/avoid?

> Thanks to all of you for creating such an active and creative community!

> Till Later,

> Tim Stough and Louise Hamlin in Los Angeles.

Careful with the stain, and try a test, perhaps on the inside of that little stern stem piece on the Coho, where it'll never be seen again once the boat is done. While there are concerns with using a stain compatible with epoxy, my warning is based strictly on your expressed desire for a more reddish, cedar like color. Epoxying changed the appearance of my Coho considerably. It went from that pale, barely perceptible pinkish color of the unfinished okoume, to a very attractive, much darker color. Very pretty in fact. I only know the basic 8 colors from a box of Crayolas, so its hard for me to describe the resulting color. Just wanted to forewarn - the color of the wood in those boxes bears absolutely no resemblance to what it will look like glassed and epoxied. So going out and buying a nice cedar colored stain might make the bare wood look cedarish, but will it still look that way after a coat of epoxy? If you stain a little piece, then put a thin coat of epoxy over it, you'll get a good idea what it will look like - then decide if you really want to stain the boats.

Chris