> Hi Spidey, I have to confess I'm not a true staples builder, I started stapless on the hull and soon gave up. I did use far less staples than the first boat, but yes the fish will see plenty of holes. I did however go stapleless on the deck exccept in one spot on the aft deck where the tape let go overnight and one spot on the fore deck where the paduk comes together I had to use a screw. I just couldn't get the strips to stay down, just to much stress with hardwood. Both spots where filled with wood so you'll never see them. The spot on the fore deck is where the compass will go anyway. I got some info late in the hull building process that had I thought of I probably would not have used staples at all. That was the use of a scrap piece screwed over the strip with a little gap between the screw and the strip where you drive a wedge to force the strip against the adjacent strip. Oh well! I hope to start The next boat sometime in June.