Jack wrote:
I am going to build a kayak to begin to learn how to build boats.

Dumb newbie question for you. On a stitch and glue kit, when you fiberglass
it, how does the stained wood come through the fiberglass?? For the
pictures I see on the pygmy and clc sites, it looks like the wood is
stained, but the instructions for the kit show the boat is completely
fiberglassed. How can the be?

Thank you for your time. BTW, thanks for the link to the glenl site. Love
the runabout kit. would love to build one of those someday.

The boats in the pictures are not stained, the wood darkens when epoxy
is applied. You can see the effect in advance by wiping the wood with
alcohol. It is possible to stain the wood before glassing, but you MUST
use a water-based stain. Oil-based stains will prevent the epoxy from
bonding properly.

When fiberglass cloth is properly wet out with epoxy, it become
transparent. It's the "wet T-shirt" principle, only moreso. ;-)