I am working on building a Recovery kayak. I am going to use 3/8" green willow shoots for my ribs. Haven't found a good place to go harvest them yet, but when I do I want to be ready to go.

I am curious how the ribs are secured when they are inserted into the mortises. Should they be pinned? I am just wondering if anyone has any suggestions since the smaller cross section of a round willow rib would not really allow them to be doweled. I was thinking of using bamboo kitchen skewers... maybe two per mortise at slight angles to prevent the holes from going through the same grain lines of the willow... Any thoughts?