: I seem to be having a lot of trouble neatly fitting the ends together where
: they meet at the bow and stern. I am using the overlaping finger method
: but am having trouble figuring out the angle to cut. I have had more luck
: if I lay the overlap strip first and then come back and cut the opposing
: side to fit underneath the overlap. This is the reverse of what is
: recommended in the book. Is there a trick that I am missing?

I have no experience of this, but:

Your method sounds best as it always starts w/ a longer strip than necessary and you can fit and cut(sand,file etc) and refit to a great joint. There is less chance of error or of cutting into a lower strip.

It seems to me that the longer strip would be a little more difficult as the inside edge has to bevel up to meet the outside edge of the shorter strip. If you use a long sanding block and sight down the other side's old long strip bevel while sanding the underside of the near side long strip, just keep working back on the strip (don't sand past the bottom edge) fitting now and again untill it just fits in the old otherside bevel. Leave the strip long for ease of twisting if necessary. And then fit the short strip by always starting say 1/8in long and working back to get a tight fit.

I bet you might get a nice neat inter locking edge and then have the option of o/s stem or not.

-mick