Hi Paul, when I made my North Bay I pre-coated the panels lightly and squeegeed most of it off. The amount of epoxy required to wet out the 4oz glass was surprisingly little. But in my very limited comparisons the hull panels on this boat seem to ding easily compared to the deck which was glassed and wetted out on dry wood. The hull has 4oz s-glass the deck 4-oz e-glass. My sense is that while the wood was sealed with very little poxy it also is less hard simply because the thin MAS poxy didn't soak down very far. And epoxy makes wood very hard. I know the hull gets more abuse but blade whacks and other use should have shown some depressions in the wood like what I've found on the hull. I figure whether you seal or don't it's how you do it that matters.-cheers.