> Did you have any problems getting the boat together due to the supposedly
> less flexible 1/4" plywood? Have read that the 1/4" luaun can be
> a lot more difficult to bend.

I really can't say, because I hav en't built with the Oakeum to compare. What I can say is that I did not have any problems bending the laun. Quite the opposite in fact. It's rather floppy in my opinion.

The only area that makes me suspect I was having some trouble is the wiring work. I seemed to use a lot more wiring then many other people do. Especially at the boat ends. I ended up spacing as closely as 1/2" at the very ends. Some due to the stiffness, some due to wanting to get everything very close and precise.

The area I did have trouble bending was the deck. And that's not so much the wood as the nature of the bend. It's very difficult at best, and when you've got slightly screwed up lines like I did (bow a bit like guilemot) it becomes impossible, because I needed a compound curve. So I stripped my deck instead.

> Do you know what the spec weight was compared to your actual construction
> weight?

I think the specs for mine were 35-40 lbs. Mine according to the bathroom scale weighs in at 70 lbs. I have a hard time believing that because it sure feels lighter then the 50 lb sacks of feed. But regardless, the boat is very overbuilt glasswise as well. Two layers of cloth on the outside, pretty much one on the inside. Glassed deck, and about 10 layers of cloth at the ends for rub. And I screwed up the end pours and have just about a gallon of epoxy in them. So don't let my overweightness spook you too much. Off hand, I'd suspect a maximum of 10 lbs of that or so is due to the wood itself. When it was simply a stitched shell, it was featherlight.

> Thanks for the input.

You're welcome.

Btw, I chose luan as a first wood also because I was expecting mistakes. Wasn't disapointed either. I screwed up my first boat to the point that I trashed it part way through the stitching process. If that was the oakeum, that would have been a very expensive mistake. With luan, it cost me $30, no big deal. For what it's worth, if CLC gave you the trace templates, I'd not use them. Use battens and the offset tables. You'll get a *much* better shape. Using their templates is what cost me the first attempt. Well, that's part of what cost me the first attempt. :-)