Hey, all.

Work on my Outer Island continues, although slowly. Over my Christmas vacation, I finished stripping the hull, and began the fairing and sanding process. I discovered four things. I "think" I know the answers, but want to double-check with you folks, if for no other reason, than to get some confirmation and a better feeling about the mess I've created.

1. GLUE LINES - While fairing, I kept planning, and planning, trying to get rid of some glue lines. Some aren't going away and some are getting bigger. Apparently, my B&C joints weren't as tight in some places as I thought, and I have some gaps that just filled up with glue squeezeout and hardened. I'm thinking that the glue lines won't harm the epoxy and glassing processes/strength, and that it's just a matter of looks in that the glue lines will show up a little darker. Is that correct? If so, much of the glue lines are on the football, which is made of Cypress, which is yellowish in it's raw state anyway, so "shouldn't" be too noticable anyway after the yellowing affect of the epoxy and varnish .... I hope. Does this all sound about right?

2. UNGLUED SECTIONS - While planning/sanding, I discovered some strips that just flat out didn't get glued to the adjoining strip, for as much as an 8-10 inch run. Unless you push on it, you can't tell. I'm thinking that all this gluing is only temporary anyway, and after the expoy and glassing, the glue between strips is really fairly unimportant since all the strength will now come from the glass. Is that true, or do I need to go get a glue syringe and try to get some glue in there?

3. TOO THIN - Due to issue #1, I have some sections where I'm simply scared to do any more planning or sanding for fear of making the wood too thin. In some places, I've got to be at a thickness less than 1/8 by now, maybe less. I haven't busted through it anywhere - yet. After the glassing process, that thinness shouldn't make too big a difference, should it? If it will, will a little extra glass in those areas make up for it, and would that be advisable?

4. FOOTBALL ACCENT STRIP - I did an accent strip to seperate the football area from the rest of the hull. I had some problems cutting out the strips then inserting the accents. Consequently, I used a *LOT* of little slivers to fill in some gaps. And, when I say a "LOT", I mean a whole boat load (no pun intended). Consequently, I have a nagging fear about the structural quality and had a nightmare about the boat breaking apart along the accent lines. So, again, I'm thinking that once I put some epoxy on it, all will be well. I'm thinking that the expoxy will soak in and adhere everything together better and stronger than the "temporary" yellow glue. Is that correct?

So, are all those things true, or am I kidding myself????? Any and all tips, comments, etc are greatly, greatly appreciated.

Thanks a huge amount for the help. If I can catch up with my neice, I'll borrow her digital camera and post a picture of what I have so far. From a few feet away, it looks great. But if you examine it up close, I'm a little embarrased by the quality of the workmanship. Oh well, it's built for paddling, not for gawking at (although both would be nice).

Rick