The inner stem gives a good place to glue. You are not dependant on getting a tight joint between opposing strips to get a strong glue job. But now I don't have a good tight joint on the outside, so to eliminate this uglyness, I install an outerstem.

You spend time making the inner and outer stems but you save time by not having to make a tight strip-to-strip joint.

I am not worried about the strength one way or the other. I usually end up with a double or triple layer of glass over the outside of the stems. This is plenty strong for typical needs.

> I am setting up the forms to build my second boat (the Return designed by
> Redfish Kayak) and the plans call for an internal and external stem piece
> in the bow and stern. (Nick describes these on pages 69 and 100 of his
> book). I did not use either an internal or external stem piece in my first
> boat (Laughing Loon's Georgian Bay) and have been happy with it's
> durability and appearance.

> Building the stem pieces seems like an added step that will not add very
> much strength (assuming I use a fillet on the inside and bias cut cloth to
> reinforce the outside).

> Any thoughts???