> Help!!!! I have worked very hard to keep the hull exterior of my Pygmy
> Arctic Tern as smooth as a you know what, which held true all the way
> through the glassing. Last night I installed the keel reinforcement tape
> and everything went to pot. The tape took an extraordinary amount of epoxy
> to wet,

This is not a mistake, it is a feature. It is a thick piece of glass material. You better believe it is going to not get thinner when you add the resin. What you are essentially adding is a coat of plastic and glass that is going to be more than 1/16th of an inch thick. The glass cloth is a sponge that helps to keep all that plastic resin in the right place -- on the keel. Personally I question whether this kind of feature is desirable.

The normal construction of a stitch and glue kayak puts a pretty thick and tough layer of glass along the keel seam. Personally, I'd launch the boat without such an addition and paddle a while. If I found that I was getting a lot of damage in that area then I would repair the dings, and add some supplemental material in those ares that were most affected.

> it didn't want to adhere to the contours of the bow and stern,

The way in which the tape is woven gives you finished edges which are neat to handle on straight areas, but just don't follow curves at all. This additional layer of glass is just an armor plating. it does not need to be structually sound. Sand smooth any ridges and high spots. Yes, you will cut through a lot of glass fabric, but you will leave behind plenty.

> and
> despite my best efforts to use a foam brush and squeegee to mop up the
> excess, it looks terrible.

Sand off the lumps, bumps and excess blobs that you can't remove with a scraper.

> The edges of the tape are rough,

Normal. That's due to how the tape is woven.

> the area
> around the tape has way too much epoxy.

The tape acts like a sponge that soaks up resin. You wanted a sacrificial layer, this is it. It happens to be thick. There is a chance you will hate it, in which case you can sand it off. There is also a chance you will hit a rock --HARD -- and come away with a scratch, but not structural damage, and congratulate yourself for the great planning. If I could tell you exactly what the future holds I would have won the lottery and bought a Klepper.

> On the advice of the Pygmy folks,
> I applied the first fill coat over everything without sanding. I am so
> angry/depressed. What do I do now?????

Start by cheering up. It may look awful, but it is still a work in progress.

Let the resin harden up for a few days and then sand aggresively, paying attention to the edges, which you will want to completely sand through, and remove. When you are done you should have the bulk of your added strip totally unaffected, while the edges blend smoothly into the rest of the boat. You want to try to achieve a long, tapered, 'feather' edge. The center of the strip should not be sanded so much. You just need to remove the hills and valleys of resin that follow the curves of the glass fibers. Get it smooth and flat. If you sand a bit deeply and get into the glass, don't worry. That was a pretty thick piece of tape and there is sill a lot of it left to provide protection.

Yes, you will see the ends of lots of exposed glass strands. Worry not. The glass fabric is not going to soak up a lot more resin.(It already did that) Just a thin third coat will cover these areas, seal them and turn them transparent.

Get a good respirator AND WEAR IT so you don't breathe in any of the stuff you are sanding. This is nasty material that your lungs will not like.

Hope this helps

Paul G. Jacobson