Harumph!

Patience is a virtue quite unlike honesty.

It is reasonably easy to decide to be honest and then carry out the plan to perfection.

Deciding the be patient and exact and then carrying that out to perfection ... well the likes of Rob and Joe and Nick and others may have it in them, but I still struggle.

Which is the genesis of this post. Despite bead and cove, Despite careful fitting, I still have some small gaps in the hull of the stripper I am putting together. The imperfections are of two types... one type involves several small gaps - 1/16 of an inch by a half inch - here and there where pieces did not join perfectly... The second type is the line where two strips come together in a bead and cove, across a chine or other area of sharp curve in the forms.

The bead and cove lines may disappear when I get the plane and sander out... time will tell. But how about the other little chinks? Last boat I used some wood glue mixed with sawdust to fill a number of them, and this worked pretty well. Others have talked about plastic woods of several types.

I assume that the real goal to a nearly flawless application (artistic) of glass and epoxy is starting with an entirely fair wood base... no holes from which bubbles can rise, no step-offs. This will seem to require some use of a filler.

I believe it was Rob Macks who mentioned in the last couple weeks that he uses Dunham's wood paste which is mixed with water and then some dye is added. I looked around Lowes for such a product and did not see it. Should I be looking in a paint store for it?

That's it.. just a bit bummed that I can't find the patience to do the wood perfectly and need to fix it up with a little filler...

Well, this is only the hull. I have promised myself that the deck will be even more perfect.

Rick