I skipped the nails on my Patuxent by using about 20 cam-latch straps. I've had no trouble with seperation, and it looks significantly better. I don't know if the Chesapeake calls for a glassed deck or not, but the only time that I'd consider another unsheathed wood deck would be on an all-out racing boat. The Patuxent is way too delicate as specced by CLC.

> Tom, the deck is one attached in two pieces, the front piece is bent over
> a deck beam and nailed with ring nails along the shear clamp (inwale?), a
> back piece is bent over the rear bulkhead and attached the same way. A
> butt block joins the two pieces at the widest part of the coaming. The
> nails help hold the deck while the thickened epoxy cures. Some folks use
> straps to help, but that doesn't always work. Some folks use dry wall
> screw through a small block of wood and plastic to hold the deck down then
> back them out when the glue cures. Outwales or rubbing strip is an option
> but requires care when trimming the deck so that you don't have too much
> of a gap. Most plane the shear edge round. I believe you can buy a
> specific or general construction manual from them.