Putting a coat of epoxy on the outside of the hull

March 2, 2011
I did some more sanding to get the outside of the hull ready for epoxy.  According to the manual, I need to put three coats of epoxy on the hull to fill in the weave of the fiberglass and to seal and protect the plywood from water.  I love how the epoxy brings out the color of the wood. (Although it also seems to emphasize any imperfections.)

Ready to put on a coat of epoxy.

Rolling epoxy over the entire bottom to fill in the fiberglass weave and seal the plywood.

Finished putting the first coat of epoxy on the bottom of the hull.

In order not to waste epoxy, I put a coat of it on the inside of the daggerboard trunk.  That way, it will be ready when it comes time to assemble the trunk and install it in the dory.  I'm still learning nautical terminology. I thought "centerboard" and "daggerboard" were the same thing but it turns out they are not, and the Northeaster Dory has a daggerboard. I'm still trying to understand the difference between them, but after looking up a description of each I find I'm no better informed at the end than I was at the beginning.  From reading forums people certainly have opinions about which is better.  The main thing I learned about daggerboards is that I need to be ready to pull it up if heading for a beach. Otherwise, I could ruin it.

Putting the first coat of epoxy on the inside of the daggerboard trunk.