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light spots in fiberglass
By:EdG
Date: 6/9/2000, 2:38 pm

I just finished putting the fiberglass on the hull of my Coho, and noticed there's a few light spots in the fiberglass. From reading some of the other postings, I'm hoping that this is just due to some air bubbles that weren't fully drawn out of the fiberglass when I squeegee'd the hull. I don't think that fiberglass is raised off the wood - the areas aren't "bubbled up at all".

I had put on a sealer coat, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to put on the fiberglass and next coat of epoxy within the 72 hours recommended in the Pygmy manual, so I lightly sanded the sealer coat to "rough it up", and then wiped off the hull with a rag.

Any way to tell for sure whether this are just air bubbles, or something more serious? Any suggestions about remedies? I'm not as concerned with achieving a perfect finish as I am with structural integrity - after all, this is my first 'yak kit, and a stitch and glue kit not a stripper.

Also, the manual strongly recommends adding the two fill coats within 72 hours, to avoid sanding into the glass cloth. Given some of the comments here about "fairing the surface", will two additional fill coats be enough to cover the cloth weave and provide enough "surface" to sand the hull smooth before varnishing? How smooth is smooth?

Finally, some of the fiberglass cloth has lifted away from the hull at the edges and near the bow - maybe a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch or so. My initial plan is to remove this fringe, and then when I glass the deck, overlap the deck fiberglass down onto the hull, thereby covering the spots, providing a smoother seam and maybe even enhancing the structural integrity of the deck - comments, suggestion?

Once again, thanks for all the help and advice!

Ed

Messages In This Thread

light spots in fiberglass
EdG -- 6/9/2000, 2:38 pm
Re: light spots in fiberglass
EdG -- 6/9/2000, 7:58 pm
Re: light spots in fiberglass
EdG -- 6/9/2000, 3:08 pm
Re: light spots in fiberglass
Spidey -- 6/9/2000, 10:43 pm
Re: light spots in fiberglass
Dave Houser -- 6/10/2000, 1:51 am
Re: light spots in fiberglass
Dave Houser -- 6/9/2000, 3:40 pm