Got the sketch Dean, thanks for your comments also. It looks like it would be easier to do with 3 panels instead of trying to coax 1 into submission.

: I worked up a sketch of this idea, but unfortunately photopoint.com won't let
: me link to it anymore, so you'll have to use your imagination on this one:
: 1) Imagine that you've installed a flat foredeck from the bow to about the
: front bulkhead, and a flat deck aft of the cockpit.

: 2) Now imagine sitting in the kayak, holding a piece of plywood for the deck
: above your legs. You're bending it CLC-like, with one edge of the plywood
: at either shear, forming a cylindrical shape.

: 3) Now imagine that that bent deck is intersecting the flat foredeck. It
: intersects it in a parabola. Cut the bent deck and the flat foredeck with
: this parabola shape and stitch them together. Attach the sides of the bent
: deck with shear clamps.

: I'll post a picture if someone can recommend a good free site for image
: hosting.

: Getting the deck to go from flat to curved as you suggest requires a compound
: bending that is very tough to do. It buckles the wood a bit. Betsie Bay
: Kayak does this, but they have a vacuum mold that draws the plywood into
: shape while they attach the hull. Trying to get a compound bend without
: their fancy apparatus will involve much cursing. That's why I thought that
: making a flat section and a bent section joined at this parabolic joint
: would make the job easier, and would look better than the 3-panel or
: peaked deck.

: Also do a search on this site for Bobby Curtis and his Sea Spirit. He did
: some custom bending/forming on that boat and has a website somewhere.

: Dean