: 1. staple holes -- anyone else think that they actually enhance the "look"
: of the kayak, or should i receive counseling?

I saw a neat car/motorcycle combo a few years ago. Front was from a Harley, body was from a 30's Ford pickup, (3 wheeler of course). The engine was in the bed of the pickup, and surrounding that was body siding of cherry strips held on with brass screws. this vehicle towed a two-wheeled trailer of matching cherry strips and brass screws. Lot of screws! It reminded me of the look of a cedar strip canoe built on ribs, with the strips held on with clinched copper tacks. The neat rows of brightly polished copper were decorative as well as functional.

: 2. cold molding -- anyone thought about (or tried) doing a cold molding layup
: of a kayak using thin (1/16" or less) veniers? sure, quite labor
: intensive but possibly a very strong boat.

ClarkCraft sells plans for such a boat. www.clarkcraft.com Why not do something liek this with slightly thicker materials, or thinner strips?

You could cut your forms 1/4 inch smaller on all sides, lay on loosely space 1/4 inch strips for a "bed" and then cover that with strips that are 1/16th to 3/32nds (halfway between 1/16 and 1/8th). Just bend them over the bed at about a 30 degree angle, butting them up against each other. Start at the center of the boat and work toward the ends, trimming the strips only when you need to. Then go over the thing with another row of strips at about a 90 degree angle to the first set. Glue these to the first layer, as well as edge glue them to each other. Cover with a third layer with the strips running fore and aft -- for structural strength and good looks. Using wide strips should be about the same as using strips of veneer. using narrow strips would not be much different

: 3. sheer -- what about using thin (say 1/8") thick strips (assumming
: that the remaining strips are 1/4" thick) for several strips on both
: sides of the sheer joint? this may allow a bed for the glass tape when
: joining the hull and deck -- rather like the taping of sheet-rock where
: the edges meet.

Even if you put on three layers of glass tape you are not going to get it to build up evenly to 1/8th inch thick. If you want to put on a thinner top strip don't make it any thinner than 3/16ths. When you fair and sand the rest of the hull you'll have a hard time keeping the edge between strip 1 and strip 2 from being damaged. The tendency will be to round over that little lip. Sanding that thinner strip 1 is going to be challenging, too!