Hi Rick,

If you're going to do a sealer coat, do it first, then follow it shortly with your fillet, then glass. Fillets and sealer coats penetrate the woods at different rates, and you'll get a discoloration at the edge of the fillet if you haven't sealed first.

Cut an "X", then start laying down your glass. As you get it more aligned with the boat, cut more out of the cockpit area so it conforms better.

It's not the easiest way to do it (as you've figured out), but it certainly will work, and you'll still end up with a great-looking boat.

Shawn

: I find myself at a bit of a crossroads. It is time to begin to 'glass the
: deck of the Guillemot-L I've been working on. However ... I have a
: situation. Whilst stripping the deck, I also added the cockpit recess and
: coaming. That is, the short 2-inch vertical pieces of cedar that form the
: basis of the coaming. I'd do this differently now, but I'm stuck with what
: I currently have.

: So, I'd like to ask some advice on the way I go about doing this,
: fiberglassing around that 90 degree angle. As far as I can tell, I have
: options like: [option 1]
: 1. Fillet (am I using that term properly?) the 90 degree area of the
: recess/coaming.
: 2. Sealer coat.
: 3. Fiberglass the deck -- cut out a hole for the cockpit, then touch it up
: and deal with the coaming/recess.

: [option 2]
: 1. Sealer Coat
: 2. Fillet
: 3. 'glass the deck.

: Now, I've thought about perhaps just laying the 'glass cloth out over the
: deck, and simply cutting an 'X' (more like a +, I guess) with one axis
: along the centerline of the cockpit, the other axis perpendicular to it.
: Then let the whole cloth run up the 90 angle, after a sealer coat/fillet,
: of course. But my only fiberglass experience thus far is the hull, so I
: don't know if this idea is pure foolishness.

: Any ideas on how to deal with this? Should I fillet or should I do the sealer
: coat first? Then, how to handle 'glassing around the coaming? I've got a
: picture below, more pictures are available if you follow the link [the
: most recent pictures are dated September 9]. I'd love some input before I
: start down the road.

: Rick Brannan
: rick@supakoo.com