: Thing is with a fuselage style kayak, unless you roll all the time
: and have a really leaky skirt, the inside stays relatively dry.
: If it's allowed to dry after each use, the ply really doesn't
: get all that wet. It's not like it's constantly in the water and
: kept in the water like a bigger boat.

: I too am a person that trusts epoxy, always have, works great. But
: it is expensive and heavy and it's not necessary for every
: application.

: Btw, I try to use the same name everywhere, on all the forums :)

: Bill H.

Air temperature and pressure and wood dimensions change all the time. In unsealed wood that creates a constant exchange of air, moisture and whatever goes with them in the outer few mm of wood. If the surface is sealed but it is less than perfect the exchange continues, but at a lower rate, so whatever the builder was afraid of is not prevented.

If you want to seal it helps if the wood is warmed before epoxy application; this will make the epoxy more runny and expel some of the air from the cells. As the wood cools the epoxy will be drawn further into the grain.

If the objective is to prevent rot perhaps one should ask the question, how many kayaks and canoes have died from it? I have never seen a ply structure with rot. Outdoor wood structures that I have seen don't rot above ground. I have seen lots of ply panels that have delaminated, but that is not supposed to happen with marine ply. Sealing with epoxy is likely a waste of time and money for a dry-moored boat even if it is stored outside.

My ply sailboat is left outside all year round - it's only in its third year so it may be too soon to tell - but so far it shows no effects even with only 3 coats of latex house paint.