: Can i tack my ply deck on with some brads but no glue, cover it with wax
: paper and then lay up a strip built deck (with the tape to hold it
: together method) on top of it? It would kill two birds with one stone for
: me. After I glass the strip built deck i would be able to pull it off and
: use it as a form to make "Vaclav style" hatches. Any info.
: appreciated, Todd

the 1/8" luan ply would seem to be a good choice here. It is cheap and bends easily. If you can't find it (I can't find 1/8" here in my neck-o-the-woods), you could use some cheap paneling material. It is smooth on the back side. I'm considering doing the same thing on my S&G boat, but I'll probably just go with permanent deck beams. I read a kind of low tech building book that I got from Canoe and Kayak magazine a long time ago. This was the way that the author built his decks.......permanet forms every foot with a small triangle of wood in the ends for extra support of all those converging strips. Apparently, he strips the whole deck, then cuts out the cockpit and hatches. He cuts through any of the deck beams that are in the way (which should only be those in the area of the cockpit since you should be able to place any hatches in between the beams). I'll modify this a bit, since my cockpit calls to be 7' long! It would be a bit of a waste to strip the whole deck, then saw half of it back out. I like your idea. Let us know how it goes. There seems to be a good bit of interest in doing this. I think it is a good compromise......a hull that won't break your heart to scratch and ding and a deck to show off your creativity, if you like...... garland