MMMMmmmm......Is That Peanut Butter?

This week the students taped all of the interior seams on the kayak, and filled them with a thickened epoxy mixture. The mixture, which looks (but doesn't taste!!!!!!) like peanut butter, is made of epoxy resin, slow hardener, and wood flour, and is called a "fillet." We used flexible plastic tools to press and smooth the messy concoction into the keel, chine, and bulkhead seams. This will keep water out, and begins to hold the boat together so that we can eventually take out the copper wire stitches that initially held the boat together. Over the wet epoxy fillet we pressed fiberglass strips into place. The final step was to brush a thin layer of liquid epoxy over the seams, fiberglass strips, and entire inside of the kayak. Lane and I were both really impressed with the ability of the students to make neat seams and work with the epoxy, since it is a messy and often tricky process. We are all so excited that the boat is taking shape and progressing quickly, and we CAN'T WAIT to take out the copper wire stitching so that we don't get cut and poked anymore while we are working on the boat.