• Happy Scream Day! 😱

​Boatworking mistakes confessional callout

Going way back to my SOF built kayak in High School (mid seventies). Vinyl-ester resin, where I should have just varnished. In fact - the whole resin and glass thing. Didn't know, and had nobody to mentor me.

My earliest resin and cloth experiences were based a similar “Didn’t know”. For few years I was reluctant to tackle even the smallest cloth and resin repair and would ask an “experienced” friend for help.

His “experience” was based entirely on auto-body repairs, using polyester resin, E-glass and Bondo from the auto supply shop. Not my proudest boatwork.

He was pretty good with autobody stuff though. We came off a trip when he backed his wife’s van into a rock wall, crumpling one fender. Before he went home he brought it up to my place, pounded out the dent, bondo-ed the wrinkle and painted it a matching white. He even hand painted in the missing section of red pin stripe.

I don’t think he wife ever knew.
 
Something from my current build:

There is a reason that they recommend using a clamp setup with a drillpress. I will probably end up repeating this, but I should know better:

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