Stitch and Glue Kayak

Step 5 Fiberglass

Finally, the the fun part of fiberglassing the kayak. Prepare the kayak first. All the seams should be well sanded and smooth. Once they are covered in fiberglass there is no going back. Basically what's done is the bottom of the kayak will be draped with fiberglass and epoxied, then the kayak gets flipped over the same thing happens to the top.

First paint the bottom of the boat with epoxy. This allows the wood to absorb some of the epoxy and makes wetting out the fiberglass fabric easier. Also it allows you to see any defects you over looked. Then while it's still wet, drape the fiberglass cloth over the hull and wet it out. Pour the epoxy on to boat and spread around with either a brush or a plastic spreader. Once the bottom is dry, cut off the excess fiberglass, sand the edge, flip the kayak over, and do the top.

Use small batches of epoxy. In a hurry I made a double batch and it heated up and turn into a hot gelatinous mass of unusable epoxy and it melted the plastic cup.

To get a smooth finish, sand the kayak, apply another layer of epoxy, and repeat. This can be done while working on the rest of the steps.