Rob,
How would the poly cloth go over bare wood? On my current Walrus, I have been considering putting one layer of poly on the bottom of the boat for abrasion, and then 4oz fiberglass over that. Would it be better to put the fiberglass on first?

: The Rev. Julie has it right. Just work on the worst spots, where the glass is
: stressed creating white spots. Sand only deep enough to remove the white
: spots and STOP! This way you won't cut into new wood which would get you
: into the whole color difference/ halo darkening effect when you recoat the
: wood. Keep your patches as small as possible to keep from adding more and
: more weight to your boat.

: The patch should overlap old glass by 2-3" and you'll only need to
: remove the varnish in that area by a couple more inches.

: All the other scrapes and dents will visually disappear with a new coat of
: varnish.

: For extra protection on the edges of the stems and keel I apply a 1"
: strip polypropylene cloth from Defender Industries on all my boats. This
: stuff is very abrasion resistant.

: The following are the directions for applying this rub strip from my building
: plans: Underwater Stem Protection
: The edges of the fore and aft stems and underwater edges along the keel of
: your boat can sustain damage from abrasion fairly quickly if not
: protected.

: Fiberglass cloth has tremendous impact strength, but it is not very good at
: abrasion protection. Use a specialty cloth designed for abrasion
: resistance to protect these edges.

: I use polypropylene cloth from Defender Industries.
: http://www.defender.com/welcome2.html

: They also carry similar abrasion resistant clothes like Xynole© and Dynel©.

: This strip of protective cloth need only be 1” wide. Sand with 80 grit paper
: along the keel bow and stern where you will be applying the abrasion
: strip. Use 2” masking tape to mask off an area along the keel at the stems
: from just above the waterline, back under the hull as far as your cloth
: length will allow.

: Apply masking tape 1/2” on either side of the keel line. Apply tape crossing
: the keel strips at the ends to mask off this area. Cut a strip of the
: abrasion cloth 3” wide and full length, usually 60” long. Tape and stretch
: this cloth to the keel straddling the masked area.

: Wet out the cloth and the cloth edges extending onto the masking tape. Press
: waxed paper and/or clear kitchen plastic wrap onto the wet resin. This
: will leave a smooth surface when removed.

: When the resin has set to a leather hard stage, start peeling back the
: masking tape and cut the excess cloth on the edge of the inner cloth tape
: edge. Use a new blade in a utility knife to cut the leather hard resin and
: cloth. Press just hard enough to cut through the soft resin.
: The underlying glass is hard enough to prevent hull damage unless you press
: really hard.
: Continue to peel back the tape & cloth and cut a neat edge to the
: abrasion strip.

: Let the abrasion strip harden and then sand the sharp edges smooth.

: All the best,

: Rob Macks
: Laughing Loon CC&K
: www.LaughingLoon.com