by John C. Harris on Wed May 13, 2009 9:57 pm
>>>>Not all parts of the side panels are equally affected.
Hard to say without a close inspection, but I'd bet my beer that the next-to-last coat of epoxy was a bad mix, or there was surface contamination before the last coat. Surface contamination can come from a lot of things. A wipe-down with a rag that has fabric softener or grease in it; a microscopic rain of silicone lubricant from an overhead garage door; a heavy falling dew just before the last coat of epoxy; use of a solvent other than denatured alcohol or lacquer thinner. Really no way to back out of that except to sand off the bad areas.
We've ALL done bad mixes, where the ratio of resin-to-hardener is off somehow. If it's off just a little, sometimes the thorough application of heat will kick off the bad stuff. (Put a space heater in the bilge, pull a tarp over the hull, and let it bake at 100 degrees F for 36 hours or so.) If the mix is off enough, heat won't help, though. USUALLY, though, a second, properly-activated coat will kick off the bad one and you can keep moving. Doesn't sound like that's the case.
I've had every one of these happen to me. Multiple times. You work through it. It's part of the adventure.