Elliott
Russ, here. Rick and I are the same shop. We tease about being R&R boat works. Stands for rest and relaxation. Nothing professional about it.
In any case, So ya just got doubled teamed.

My scanner just died so we are gonna be out of pictures for a little bit.
When we get dug out of our present layer of snow I'll get to fixing that
and send you some pics of our skeg works.

First, it is possible to lay-up the the GE skeg with out a steamer. However,
its a nice luxury for the project and a cool capability to add to your shop.
Here are some idea's (graduated in complexity) for bending wood.

Thin Strips. We have gotten to ripping strips of a variety of widths. We make
some that are one inch some that are 1/2 and a couple of quarters and even
1/8.The thinner the strips the easier the bend and twist. We get away with
not steaming something's by going with thinner width strips Most commercial
strip rippers offer 3/4 and 1/2. It makes lay up on twisted shapes a whole
lot easier tighter etc. Nice for accents too.

It sounds like your waiting on bought strips. You can do the same thing
by shaving a strip down with a plane and then rebuilding the cove or
building but joints on the curved sections. I recommend the first.
Typically this gets done just for the parts that need the curve twist etc. Using different widths can ease the lay up process.

Soaking: Thinner strips used in combination with hot soaking wood you
can often get what you need with very little complexity. A tub of
hot water over night will often do the trick. also If I am doing
a one axis complex bend I'll often build a jig out of a piece of
plywood and nails to hold the wood either steamed or soaked to

hold it in place until it dries. Some times I'l put in half moon
wedges that I can use to torque a piece of wood into a curve.

Often all a piece of wood needs is just to spend time in a hot bath.
To loosen it up. Then you can use bar clamps to slowly pull it
into the right twisted position then let it dry.

Steamers: I think Rehd has recently posted a picture of his Postal bazooka. I'd look down the BBS a bit for it. A picture paints a thousand words. So perhaps You can get Rehd to e-mail it to ya. I looked for the post for
ya but couldn't find it.

Steamers run the gamut, but all of them do the same low tech thing. They
take presoaked wood up to between 145 to 175 degrees for softwoods and
over 200 to 240 degrees for hardwoods. This makes for what old boatwrights
used to call "wigglewood." Its like a noodle.

A quick and easy steamer like Rehd's and others here that works greatis
to take a piece of PVC pipe and put a T or a 45 degree connector in it.
Basically your making a T. Then put the lower part of the T over a
teapot and on a hot plate and send steam up the pipe to the cross piece
that has your strips in it. Make sure you have steam coming out both
ends. Ya don't want it to blow on ya. Measure your inside temp with
a meat thermometer. When she is the right temp and your wood is
flexible as you need it. An hour per inch in thickness is the
rule of thumb on a cedar strip that's about 12 minutes. Take her
out apply it to your form hot and clamp it to the shape you want.
Be sure to use gloves and eye protection

Another one I have seen is the same idea using an old wall paper
steamer. Its the Tim Taylor solution "More Power" then what is
actually needed. for strips.

ALso you can use an old steam iron or hair dryer on soaked wood to
get a turn too.

Enjoy fogging up your shop windows It will make your neighbors wonder

!RUSS