: I should have the deck on my Shooting Star complete this week and it looks
: great. I am the tinkerer type and reduced the station size by 3% while
: leaving the frame spacing the same. I like low volume boats and thought
: that modification could only make the boat more appealing to me. As I
: watch the boat take shape I have no regrets about the change. I do
: realize, however, that I would probably like the boat as designed. I have
: built a number of strippers as well as many other boats and find this one
: to be a real winner in the asthetics department. I expect it will be a
: great boat to play with on San Francisco bay.

: In my opinion, the plans are well done and Rob's manuel is more than adequate
: for a first time builder. I don't think this is a particulary difficult
: boat to build. It offers an "opportunity" to play with steam
: bending which is not rocket science. I think Rob's solution to creating
: the bow and stearn of a Baidarka in wood strip form is very cleaver and
: looks great. Some of my SOF Baidarka friends curl their lip a bit at the
: notion of a strip Baidarka. It is just evolution as far as I am concerned.
: I don't think the Aleuts used aluminum tube and dacron when they developed
: the concept.

: I will post some photos of the SS when I get a bit further on. So far it is a
: real "sex machine" to look at!

: Ken

OK, Ken, now you're out there. It's going to be a great boat. Please keep us all posted.
--Scott