Actually, we've all found that these strips really don't want to go into these curvy shapes -- it's part of the strip-building process. If you want some real fun, try building the Outer Island where there's a 5" drop from the foredeck to the low aftdeck just behind the cockpit.

C-clamping the new strip to the one before it helps in places where the staple wants to lift up. Take a piece of scrap strip 1"-2" long and wrap it with strapping tape so glue doesn't stick to it, then put one on either side to keep the C-clamp from gouging up the strips.

At the ends, in order to keep the strips twisted, I did 2 things. One was to use the Craftsman version of Quick-Grip clamps, the hand-squeezed bar clamps. I like them better because they're smaller. At $15 each, though, you can't buy as many as you'd like. The other thing was that I inteded to use an outer stem to finish off the ends, so I didn't care what happeded past the end of the internal stem form. I left 4"or so hanging off the end of the kayak and popped a lot of staples out there into the strips laid before.

And don't believe the staple-holes-look-bad thing -- they add character.

Dean