What goes on the wood first? Sealer/primer

One thing good about this forum is the timing. We get people from all over the globe, all time Zones.
Anytime I visit this site, there are "New Posts" from somewhere.
I'm glad to hear all this input.
You'd never learn this much from a Paint store kid.

 

EXACTLY.

 

I don't think you need a ballpeen hammer---but Capt JZ has hit it on the head.

We built plywood Cats and Tris using a thin 100% solids epoxy, most of which are still sailing today.
We encapsulated EVERYTHING in the epoxy to exclude Water Vapor which is what eventually kills wood.
We only used glass tape on the seams, as that is where the most vulnerable edges are. Hulls had two coats on the inside and three on the outside. Internally normal boat paints were used with a primer on the epoxy. Externally only two coats of a good quality polyurethane paint was used on top of the epoxy, for appearance and UV protection. Any slight damage was quickly and easily repaired with a blob of epoxy filler and a dab of paint.
Lusterous wood finishes (such as on a transom) were done by coating the epoxy with a clear UV protective Poly paint.
Worked well for us

 

Again, the encapsulation approach is very valid and one I constantly support. Then again, particularly small craft on a budget, it's reasonable to skip the ball peen hammer strategy in favor of a more conventional approach, though the build type needs to be compatible with this choice, which as the intention of my initial posts.

In other words, you don't HAVE to encapsulate, though there are benefits to it. There are benefits to marrying a model too, but as with the ball peen techniques, there's a price to pay, literally and figuratively.

 

I never thought well of encapsulating by a Humanoid with a brush etc.
However the Plywood that Tolly Craft used was "Factory Impregnated" and "Thoroughly Encapsulated"
You had to injure that wood to make it wet.
The Edges would resist water as long as a Cedar board would.

I sold my 23' Tolly and to this day I cry myself to sleep over that mistake.
I'd still like to know if somebody makes that kind of Plywood today?

 

I would imagine you could order it from one of the mills, but I doubt it'll be cheap. Encapsulation isn't very difficult. It's more process, procedure and mind set then anything else. If you're religious about a solid 10 mil or better coating, then you're safe. If you coat things, but don't get the fastener holes or pay strict attention to end grain (etc.) then you'll have issues.

 

I am sure that is right, as Bruce has commented in previous posts.