Warm up the resin and filler, keeping and mixing them in a warm place. Doing the actual work outside shouldn't be a problem as long as the air is dry. Note that MAS epoxy cures very slowly at low temps, and not at all below 40 degrees, so bring the boat back inside to cure. Epoxy is not highly volative, so it doesn't give off a lot of odor the way paint does.

P.S. I too live in Massachusetts and will be helping my daughter assemble and sheath her Ganymede the weekend after this one. Need to hit the Maine Boatbuilder Show this weekend.

and look out for  dust, insects, and pollen....  all of which find wet /sticky surfaces to be especially attractive...............

 Julie K.

Epoxy work, especially glassing, in the sun is not usually recommended.  Two primary gotchas are the wood outgassing as the sun heats it and the pot life of the epoxy becoming shorter as the sun warms it.  If you must go outside, leave the boat in the sun to get a bit warmer, then move it into the shade to do your epoxy work.

Enjoy the weekend

I had the same thought with the warm weather in MA right now.  After a winter of sanding, I put a fairing coat of epoxy on the deck this afternoon, will do another tomorrow, then the hull on Saturday and Sunday (plus mounting my compass block and other details).  I am a little worried that the temp in my garage is going to get down to the high 40's tonight, but the epoxy should cure up nicely tomorrow in the 60 degree warmth.  Clearly my technique is a little rusty, as I noticed a few sags around the heavy camber near the cockpit once I had finished.  And as Julie mentioned, the dust finds epoxy particularly attractive, and my deck is now mildly speckled.  

 I had forgotten how beautiful the boat looked with a gloss finish on it, although I'm a little disappointed with the milky areas where I accidently sanded into the deck glass... fortunately its right behind the cockpit and will get covered by fishing equipment 98% of the time.  

 John, I'll let you know how the epoxy sets up after a cool night tonight... you should be fine doing your epoxy during the daytime though.  Just do it as the wood surface is cooling, not warming up.  The latter will give you outgassing bubbles and a big headache. 

 ~Chris 

For me the big risk factor is being outside in the spring weather and deciding to can the construction and go boating. Guess it's not a problem for folks building their first boat.

Laszlo

You guys (and gals) are great. Thanks. J

Laszlo said:  "For me the big risk factor is being outside in the spring weather and deciding to can the construction and go boating."

Always the optimist!

PS - The osprey are back in Maryland.  That means it's definitely boating season.

Its still a little early for sailing here in MA, despite the nice weather we're having now.  Back in college we used to start racing the third week of the month, and there were definitely some regattas that were held in the snow.  Of course, sailing a dinghy in water that was around 38 degrees created its own challenges (any capsizes without a drysuit were an automatic recipe for hypothermia).  

~Chris 

You certainly had great weather! How did it work out filleting outside? -Wes

Wes,

 I can't speak for John, but up here in Billerica I was able to put two fairing coats on the hull and deck over the past week, and currently have my compass block strapped on deck while it cures.  Next step is re-sanding the whole boat, then varnish (if April weather permits!)

 ~Chris 

Thanks again to all who helped me re the filleting-outside questions.

Pride cometh before the fall.  After moving the boat outside last Friday and securing the wire twists all around (all the while inwardly applauding myself for how smooth the building process had gone thus far), I took a break and went to the gym for a couple of hours.

When I returned, I saw (to my horror) that the sheer clamps on both sides had come apart at their scarf joints by about 1/4 of an inch, distorting the hull's shape, obviously. Ugh.The sun's heat may have exposed a poor gluing job on my part. In any case, had to loosen all the stitches loosen a bit, drip/persuade epoxy into the opened sheer-clamp gaps, clamp them, methodically retighten (and somethimes replace) the stitches, etc.

All looks fine now, up to spec and no twists. But I lost 5 days (and got a scare). Now, of course, the weather has returned to its usual sucktitude here in MA, so my fillet epoxing will be done inside after all!

Best,

John