Stairsteps are typically a result of the strips not laying flat against the forms. In which case the solution is to force the strips to lie flat with clamps.

You could glue some strips on to fill in the space, but it will be hard to get a tight glue joint between the strips. A thick glue joint will show up as white lines when you fair out the strips.

If the strips are flat against the form and you still have the problem, the steps may because one of the strips is at a greater bevel angle than the adjoining strip. You want the two meeting bevels on adjoining strips to be approximately the same. However, if you still get a stairstep, you can plane off the extra without losing much more thickness than you would if you had perfectly matching bevels.

: I'm building a Cape Ann single kayak and have come across a situation which
: has given me pause to cogitate. Here are the particulars, stapleless,
: redwoood, rolling bevel not cove and bead. The stern is quite pinched and
: over 3 stations off the stern form I've developed quite a staircase. I'm
: steaming and getting the strips to fill through the twisted curves but
: it's turning into a staircase. The last piece glued has probably 75% of
: the thickness of the strip stepped back from the one below it. Any
: suggestions on dealing with this? I had the thought of cutting some small
: filler strips to glue to the 'treads' of the stairs and planing the
: resulting surface. It should still remain a fair curve with the 'extra'
: wood being on the inner surface to be dealt with in the same fashion when
: I get to it. I'm wondering if this fix would have any impact on the
: kayak's handling characteristics?