We had the same problem building our yaks, especially so with the current one of our own design which has a "hollow" in the entrance of the bow. To make it worse, we used poplar strips for the hull... The solutions were everything Sam mentioned below and temporary Spanish windlass' to force the steel rebars disguised as poplar strips into place, using all sorts of blocks of wood, too. Most importantly, lot's of cursing really helps... Staples? We stopped using them after the first couple strips on this one...mostly thin brads. We're at the glassing stage now. If you take care and experiment with sawdust mixes and glues you can make a good hole filler that blends with the surrounding wood pretty closely.

: Delaney,

: I also found that staples do not hold the tortured end strips in position
: (Guillemot Play). Creative clamping was the solution. Use the gaps for
: cheater strips to your advantage by running drywall screws through small
: blocks and into the forms. Cut the blocks so that they overhang the strips
: and hold them to the forms. Go back and fill in the gaps later when you
: can remove the screws. I also used a combination of small blocks, 1x1x12
: in sticks, and packing tape to force down strips with a lever action.
: Place a block over the strip at the form. Put a stick over the block with
: the block a few inches from the end of the stick. Wrap strapping tape
: around the boat and the stick from the block end toward the end that will
: be your lever. Pull the strip down with the tape over the lever, and stick
: it in place on the boat.

: Sam