: My wife's Pygmy AT14 is pretty beat on the stern keel line. I'm
: planning a keel strip of Dynel fabric, epoxy and graphite. I've
: taped off the area (following Atlantic Kayak Tours method) and
: have sanded.

: My question is about the varnish - what happens if I don't get all
: the varnish sanded off, down to the epoxy? I can't tell from
: looking at it if all the varnish is sanded off. Will I have
: bonding problems if some is still there?

: Any other suggestions on this process will be welcome!

: Alan

Alan,

Another suggestion is to add a hardwood stem to the stern (and bow) of your boat. I'm assuming the Tern 14 does not have outer stems. I am building a Cirrus SLT S&G for my son and added hardwood stern and bow stems this past weekend. I used a Shinto Wood Rasp to level the panels on the bow and stern to about 1/2" wide from the bow/stern shearline to about 30" aft or forward along the keel. I had a nice piece of red oak that I ripped 3/32" x 3/4" strips from and then laminated them to the bow and stern with thickened epoxy slurry. I secured them in place with many wrappings of masking tape to make the stems bend tight against the bow and stern. After the epoxy cured, I used a small hand plane to shape and then final sanded with a ROS. If you were to go this route, next step would be to apply some fiberglass cloth over the new stems to blend them into the kayak.