Fiberglassing the Outer Hull

I'll be using 4 oz. fiberglass cloth to keep things light but plan to double it up in key areas for reinforcement.

The first key areas are the ends which each received a strip of 6 oz. fiberglass tape (left over from a previous project).

When I purchased the fiberglass I got 10 yards of 50" wide cloth. Here I've cut off a piece large enough to cover the hull and stashed the rest away for later use in the interior.

I positioned the cloth to hang about 4 inches below the shear line along one side of the canoe. This moved all the excess cloth to the other side. Then, trimming the second side at 4 inches below its sheer left a large piece of extra material.

There was enough excess cloth to make a large football shaped reinforcement layer on the bottom of the hull and extend an additional 3"-wide strip down the stems. The patch is comprised of 2 pieces and I positioned them under the full layer of glass.

After smoothing things out, the edge of the patch is still visible. I'm not sure how it will look after epoxying but regardless, I'll be thankful for the extra protection.

The first coat of epoxy was applied with a plastic spreader along with a small bristle brush used near the ends. It was a hot day today – 87ºC. I waited until about 7:30 pm to apply the coat and will do a filler coat tomorrow morning.

Since it had been around 14 hours since the first coat, I did a quick 80 grit sanding and vacuuming…

… then applied the second coat.

The next day one more light sanding was done and a third coat was added. This time I applied with a roller then finished off with light horizontal brush strokes. For the record, that edge of the bottom patch has completely disappeared.

Had to include another photo – this is one of those rewarding moments that one works for!