lOOKS LIKE THIS IS THE WAY TO GO
could not get to your web site will try again later...got the boat stitch up last night after a bloodly fight with the wire.... the wire won... could not find 18 ga. had to use 12 ga... do have a problem with the keel line at the bow one panel over lap's the other ..the best way i think is to losen the wire and with a small pull saw cut between the joints..
also did you strip up to the cockpit or strip the full length and cut out the cockpit ...
: John,

: I have made two ches 16's and a mill creek 16.5 with the stripped decks. As
: others have described, the best way to do it is add some additional
: temporary deck beams to the boat. Stripping is real easy. On my boats I
: used a real simple stripping pattern. Simply ran the ends of the strips
: past the rub rails and when deck was all stripped, cut the deck ends to
: fit the boat. As other's have said, once the strips are glued togeher, you
: pull the staples, plan and sand the top of the deck and then fiberglass
: it. Then you turn the deck over, plane the inside of the deck and then
: fiberglass it. The final stripped deck is real easy to install onto the
: hull as it really fits nice. Simply use some thickened epoxy on the shear
: clamp and bulkheads and tape the deck down till it drys. I also put a
: strip of 2" fiberglass tape along the shear between the deck and hull
: to protect it and also so I would'nt have to put a shear strip on.

: Attached are some links to pics of boat and building process. Good luck.

: http://www.geocities.com/jablot/Chesapeake_16.html Finished Chesapeakes

: http://www.geocities.com/jablot/ Finished Mill Creek

: http://www.geocities.com/jablot/Image20deck.jpg Stripping Deck