First bottom coat

At this stage, the instructions call for two coats of unthickened epoxy on the entire exterior of the hull. The exterior sides of the #1 strakes to this point have not received any epoxy coating, and the layer of fiberglass on the bottom panel still requires that the weave be filled. A good session of sanding preceded the first coat of epoxy. I made sure to smooth down all the filled stitch holes, as well as some little "spines" of cabosil-epoxy that had wicked up underneath some of the stitches as the seams were glued. When the wires were removed, these little ridges remained and had to be sanded away. After a tedious period of sanding, I mixed up some unthickened epoxy (it turned out that 14 pumps were necessary to cover the whole hull and transoms) and rolled it on. I am eyeing my epoxy supply with a little apprehension: after the coating of the hull, no tasks remain that require large batches to be mixed. Even so, plenty of little things remain that require epoxy, like coating of rudder and daggerboard parts, gluing the motor pad, filleting seats and knees, and the like. I have been careful to be economical with what was supplied with the kit, but I hope what remains will hold out. Total hours 61.25.