> A month ago I drove a few hours to visit Jim in Mt Maunganui. He has a
> built a great example of a Guillemot expedition single. It looks fantastic
> with a Killer Whale inlaid onto it. To actually see a finished product is
> a lot better than a few photos in a book as well as some good first hand
> advise.

It's great to see some other boats for inspiration. I thought about building a stitch and glue when I first got into it, but then I saw Joe Greenley's Silver at the Wooden Boat Shop on Lake Union in Seattle. Yeah, the one that had Shawn's drool on it. Once I saw that boat and later saw some more of his kayaks at the rendezvous, I had to build a stripper and I had to go stapleless.

> I have been unable to purchase suitable Bead and Cove bits so will be
> building using planed edges. Jim did this as well, the finish was good and
> he assures me not difficult.

It's not pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I use what I call the scribble method. Just put the strip up against the previous strip and scribble on it with a pencil at each station. Big scribble for a lot of bevel and a little scribble for a little bevel. Mark a line across the strip telling you where to stop beveling. Then lay it up across the forms, or on the floor, and start planing. The size of the scribbles will only mean something to you, and you'll soon be good at making it fit easily the first or second try.

>Also I am going to try and go for stapless
> construction as the holes to tend to show a bit. I guess I will be going
> back and re-reading a lot of Spidey's advice.

Great!! You'll find it to be worth the extra time when you're all done with the boat and there are no holes in it.

Happy kayak building,

Dale