: know...how does it paddle? I haven't gotten a chance to try out one of
: these designs before I jumped into building.

I've had it out a half a dozen times on Lake Michigan. The Lake's been unusually calm so it's hasn't been heavily challenged. It tracks (up to a 3 foot swell at least) like a train. I've sprinted it up to 6.5 mph (GPS) and it cruises easily at 4 mph. It has a lot of initial stability and strong secondary stability. I can't yet testify to how it will handle a strong wind but I expect good performance. It's a really good design for a large paddler.

I built his rudder while waiting over the winter to top coat it but decided to paddle it for a season to be sure it was needed. I'd recommend getting his rudder package for the double. The rudder built in the carbon fiber is a nice touch along with the carbon fiber coaming. By the way, the carbon coaming holds a spray skirt extremely well and strong enough to stand on.

: The only reason I was trying to avoid steaming is that you have to get a heat
: source (camp stove, hot plate, etc) a steam generator (tea kettle -- do
: you think I could get away with stealing the one off the stove?? ;P )
: working down in my enclosed basement.

Since you're working in the basement you can set up the camp stove with her tea kettle by the back door, with the end of the steamer pointing outwards. That should eliminate most of the steam buildup in the basement, as would a window fan exhausting out the door. I tried the towel and heat gun but didn't have much luck getting the wood evenly steamed. Maybe it doesn't matter with cedar but the redwood was more prone to breaking if it wasn't completely steamed. Since you're only gluing one piece/side/night anyway spend the time and get it right with steam. The time you spend with the steamer will be less than you'll spend screwing around with clamps and bungies to keep the strips tight against the forms.

I didn't use cove and bead on the hull and developed some stairstepping in the pinched stern. It was a hassle and I ended up laminating extra strips inside and out and then planing the extra thickness away to get a fair hull. You can't tell where I did it unless I point it out. Using Vaclav's stripping technique eliminates the extreme twisting and would have avoided that problem completely.

Mitch