Dean,
How noticable are the staple marks in the strips? I was planning on painting the S&G hull to cover those holes. I've heard stapleless is very dificult but considering how visible those holes are, it might be worth the endevor. Is it possible to hide the staple holes?
I was afraid someone was going to tell me to glass the inside of the hull/deck joint. I'm realy not looking forward to trying to roll tape into the tips of the yak. Thus the sheer clamp idea. I don't like the Chessy's nails either tho. What about epoxying the deck to the sheer and then putting 1/8 inch dowel pegs so often and then glassing the topside to the hull? There wont be any induced stress at this point like with the Chessy's tortured deck. I think the pegs would do fine.
It seems this project is venturing into uncharted territory right smack in the middle of two common building techniques I want to have somehting I can call (mostly) my own idea but, I want it to be strong as well.

: David,

: I haven't tried what you're going to be attempting -- so take it for what
: it's worth -- but here's what I'd do: Make the forms, but don't include
: the deck part. Cut each of the 10 (or however many there are) forms, with
: the exception of the 2 bulkheads, out of cheap lauan plywood. You probably
: won't have enough scraps of okoume for the job, plus it's too expensive
: for making disposable forms, anyway. Make the forms without any deck at
: all; just make a line that connects from shear to shear, making a flat
: deck. Each form will then be a pentagon that will go
: shear->shear->chine->keel->chine->backtoshear. (A couple
: end forms may be triangles.) These forms will be stitched into the hull.
: Remember that since you're going to be using a shear clamp you'll need a
: 3/4"x3/4" notch in the shear corner of each form as well,
: because the shear clamp is attached to the hull side panel before the hull
: gets stitched together. But to tell you the truth, I'd try it without a
: shear clamp -- just attach the deck with fiberglass tape inside and out.
: This is the way it's usually done, with the exception of CLC-type kayaks
: with tortured plywood decks that require a shear clamp.

: Build the hull using these forms. Ignore the deck until you're done stitching
: the hull.

: Now that you have your hull made, use cardboard to make patterns for your
: deck forms. Make each one so that it looks kind of like a mushroom; the
: 'head' will be the part that's above the top of your forms which are still
: stitched to the hull, and the 'stem' will be a rectangular section below
: it that you will use to screw these deck forms to the hull forms. Make
: forms for the deck out of 1/2", 5/8", or 3/4" plywood,
: particle, or wafer board, because you need to be able to staple into them.
: (You could try stapleless, but you might not want to try to bite off too
: much for a first project, and you'll have all those stitch holes in the
: hull, anyway...) This way, since your hull is built, you can 'eye up' the
: deck and get a feeling for how it will look. You could hold strips up to
: it to get an idea for how 'fair' it looks. When you're happy with the way
: the deck forms look, cut them out of the thick plywood and screw each one
: to the forms in the hull.

: Then strip, scrape, sand, 'glass, varnish -- voila'!

: Hope this helps,

: Dean E. Trexel

: (The step-by-step approach of this post reminded me of the way Paul G.
: Jacobsen writes his oft-lengthy (word-pictures) posts, so I had to sign it
: that way. How's the saying go? Imitation is the sincerest form of
: flattery?)