David,

I haven't tried what you're going to be attempting -- so take it for what it's worth -- but here's what I'd do:

Make the forms, but don't include the deck part. Cut each of the 10 (or however many there are) forms, with the exception of the 2 bulkheads, out of cheap lauan plywood. You probably won't have enough scraps of okoume for the job, plus it's too expensive for making disposable forms, anyway. Make the forms without any deck at all; just make a line that connects from shear to shear, making a flat deck. Each form will then be a pentagon that will go shear->shear->chine->keel->chine->backtoshear. (A couple end forms may be triangles.) These forms will be stitched into the hull. Remember that since you're going to be using a shear clamp you'll need a 3/4"x3/4" notch in the shear corner of each form as well, because the shear clamp is attached to the hull side panel before the hull gets stitched together. But to tell you the truth, I'd try it without a shear clamp -- just attach the deck with fiberglass tape inside and out. This is the way it's usually done, with the exception of CLC-type kayaks with tortured plywood decks that require a shear clamp.

Build the hull using these forms. Ignore the deck until you're done stitching the hull.

Now that you have your hull made, use cardboard to make patterns for your deck forms. Make each one so that it looks kind of like a mushroom; the 'head' will be the part that's above the top of your forms which are still stitched to the hull, and the 'stem' will be a rectangular section below it that you will use to screw these deck forms to the hull forms. Make forms for the deck out of 1/2", 5/8", or 3/4" plywood, particle, or wafer board, because you need to be able to staple into them. (You could try stapleless, but you might not want to try to bite off too much for a first project, and you'll have all those stitch holes in the hull, anyway...) This way, since your hull is built, you can 'eye up' the deck and get a feeling for how it will look. You could hold strips up to it to get an idea for how 'fair' it looks. When you're happy with the way the deck forms look, cut them out of the thick plywood and screw each one to the forms in the hull.

Then strip, scrape, sand, 'glass, varnish -- voila'!

Hope this helps,

Dean E. Trexel

(The step-by-step approach of this post reminded me of the way Paul G. Jacobsen writes his oft-lengthy (word-pictures) posts, so I had to sign it that way. How's the saying go? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?)