Dan: I stripped the deck of my chesapeake 17 with yellow cedar and red cedar (see customer built boats at CLC web site). I installed a 1/8" plywood deck then covered that with 1/8'x 1/2" cedar strips. I sealed the strips with 3 coats of exopy resin and 3 coats spar varnish. I haven't weighed the finished boat but the strips weighed less than 6 lbs. Stripping delayed the completion date by about a week but I had nothing else to do for that week anyway. I have no problem lifting the boat up onto the roof of my van without help. I was concerned about making the boat top heavy but sitting low in the cockpit seems to make up for any of that extra deck weight. I was very happy with the final outcome as it gives the boat a little bit of a "custom look" Another method for stripping could be to install temperary deck beams with a hot glue then remove them after the strips have been layed and the epoxy set.

Good luck Ken Morton
> How about this? anyone have expereince putting a stripped deck on a
> chesapeake 17 or 18? Cost implications? time? overall vessel integrity?
> etc.

> Cheers, Dan