: Thanks for the reply. On my G.A. of Nicks design, I strayed from the short
: strip combing method. I thought I would try to steam bend 3 pcs. of wood
: to make the combing and lip. The pieces are all about 1 1/4 " X 8ft.
: I cut the hole in the deck. Then, I put the first piece on the edge of the
: cockpit hole, forming an oval around the entire hole, with a joint at the
: forward end of the cockpit. The second piece of wood fits inside the first
: piece of wood, covening both the inside of the first piece and the cut
: edge of the cockpit hole.

OK, so at that point you'll have a double layer of vertically oriented wood, correct?

: The third piece will be the combing lip for the
: sprayskirt. The third piece will also cover the seam between the first two
: pieces.

You've lost me here. It sounds to me like you're going to try to bend the wood into a flat hoop and glue it on top of the vertical pieces. I don't see how this is possible.

: My question was about gluing the 1st two pieces together with a thickened
: epoxy. I figure the epoxy will run out of the seam and into the boat
: without covering the cut edge of the cockpit hole or filling the seam.

If you thicken the epoxy sufficiently, it shouldn't run out. I would dry fit the second piece and cut it so that you get a tight butt joint when it's in place. That should eliminate any gaps between the two pieces and minimize the need for clamping. Put some newspaper in the bottom of the hull in case any epoxy does drip (I'm assuming that the deck is on the hull). Coat the pieces with epoxy, fit the inner rim and clamp it. Wipe off any glue that squeezes out, then run a strip of clear packing tape around the bottom edge to ensure than nothing else runs out.

For the coaming lip, your best bet is to cut your stock into narrow strips and laminate them around the vertical pieces. I used 2, 1/4" x 1/4" strips laminated to produce a lip that's 1/4" tall and 1/2" deep. It holds the skirt quite well, but you could always add a third stip to make the lip 3/4"deep, if you feel you need it. Cut the strips 12" longer than you need, then taper the last 12" of both ends. This gives you a long, smooth, strong joint. You can glue them one at a time or stack them up, whichever you prefer. This method requires quite a few clamps. Even on a small "ocean" sized cockpit, I used 22 clamps.