There are several areas on the boat that are covered with epoxy-only, no fiberglass cloth; e.g., rub rails, transom, and a few other very small areas. For some reason, even though I have re-coated with three or four layers of epoxy, I keep sanding through to bare wood. It's starting to drive me nuts. I re-coat the sanded-through areas with several coats, wait several days for the epoxy to cure, sand again (hand-sand only, very carefully) and inevitably in trying to get it smooth I end up sanding through some spots again! And the vicious cycle is repeated.
I finally decided that, if I am ever to get this boat on the water, I'm just going to have to let it go with the hope that paint or varnish will seal these small areas well enough. Thankfully, none of these sand-throughs are in places where water collects, but rather, it runs off right away (and there are no sanded-through areas below the water line). I'm not that concerned about wood rot in these areas. For example, I know that bare wood fences only lose about 1/4" per 100 years to wood rot as long as the water can run off quickly. My concern is that, because paint and varnish are somewhat porous, the wood can become slightly damp underneath, causing it to expand and contract, with the result that the paint cracks and has to be repaired every year or two. It takes more skill than I have to feather these areas sufficiently that they blend in completely. Again, if the water can run off right away this may not be a problem.
So as I said I'm not going to worry about it and go ahead with finishing the boat. Surely I am not the only one who has had this problem. If anyone cares to admit this happening to them , how did you handle it? Leave the epoxy repair slightly rough? Paint over the bare wood, as I did? Some other ingenious plan?