: I used 13 polyester also. Here's a simple method. Buy canvas pliers at an art
: store (wide ended canvas pliers). You can stretch the poly (any skin)
: tight as a drum with these and staple the skin to the top of the gunnels.
: Then you just sew the deck tight releasing staples as you go. It works
: great. Obviously staple holes are filled when you coat the skin.

That's a good idea. I can see where it would save a lot of wear and tear on your hands.

: That whole method of shoelacing it tight is really hard to achieve without
: ripping the skin or getting puckers.

Yeah, tell me about it!

: I used artificial sinue to sew the
: skin which also helps because the wax makes it hold tight.

What exactly is "artificial sinew"? Is it just waxed nylon? Where did you find it?

: When I tried
: braded flyfishing line, I had to keep tension on it otherwise the whole
: seam would loosten right before my eyes unless I tied it off at intervials
: of every few inches.

I used Bill Low's method, clamping the thread with hemostats. This worked fine. Using the box stitch he suggests, the stitching wouldn't loosen much at all when unclamped. However, I used helper threads between the gunwales to pull the skin tight on the hull. If you were using a single cross stitch (a la Zimmerly's article in the current Sea Kayaker) or a "baseball" stitch, I can see where it would loosen readily. The downside of using a box stitch is that it takes a lot longer.