Fiberglass and/or Painting the Hull

Dear Guys,

For a long time I been working in the construction of my first boat using stich and glue technique.

the pieces were cutted, coated with 1 or 2 layers of epoxy (just the outside part of the pieces), stitched, glued and fiberglassed all the joints, inside and outside the boat. For budget reasons I would like to have your opinion on fiberglassing and/or painting the hull.

It is necesary to fiberglass all outside hull? can I forget the fiberglassing and coat with 2 or 3 layers of epoxy paint? Are some coat layers, good enought to seal the hull?

The boat is a little dinghy, LOA: 3,5mts, and 0,250 mts3 of displacement. And will be used in calm sea water, learning to sail.

Thanks a lot for your help
Carlos

 

No it is not necessary to fully glass the hull. I have built boats both ways. One is fiberglassed on the bottom and about 4 inches up the sides. The other is like yours. I glassed all the joints but did not glass the outside of the hull. Both are about 4 years old and just fine. I think the glass makes the larger boat a little tougher. It is glassed because it gets launched from the beach and dragged across sand and gravel. So the glass helps prevent damage. It also has about 6 coats of polyurethane paint on it over an epoxy base coat. The other is a small sailing dinghy and is so light it never gets dragged across the beach. So I don't worry about damage. I have left it clear so you can see the wood.

 

Thanks a lot Ike for your help¡