My Outer Island was tough to strip in that area as well ... in fact, I busted a lot of strips trying to do it. Steaming didn't work well at all. I ended up locally thinning the strips and using a heat gun to make the bends and twists. Even still, there was a lot of induced stress when all was done. I figured "When I remove the staples this thing is gonna spring out flat as a board and my project is gonna be toast!" It didn't ... everything came out fine ... after everything was glassed, the deck ended up only 1/8" to 1/4" wider than the hull.

I think you'll be fine.

Ken