: Heavy sigh..... I'm building Jay's Outer Island, using stapleless methods.
: I'm starting on the football area now. But, last night, I went to my boat
: yard (a garage, in a former life) and noticed that the past 3-4 strips,
: half way between the cockpit and stern, had popped loose from two forms
: and were off the forms by about 1/2".

: Okay - no biggie. I took my knife and dug out the dried hot glue, then
: started applying some pressure to get them back on the forms and reglue.
: Well, the glue wouldn't hold it, even if I held the strips in place long
: after the glue hardened. Dug the glue out and retried. Went through that
: cycle about 4 times.

Sometimes there isn't enough glue joint area.

You can glue a small block of wood to the form to increase the glue area, and put more hot glue on both the face of the block and the form before clamping the strip down.

: Plan two - I decided that maybe just a few staples wouldn't hurt, so I
: applied pressue to push the strips back to the forms and popped a staple
: into it. Staple didn't hold. Popped another staple, that one didn't hold.

: Plan three - took out the hammer and a few brads, and it held. I hammered
: thru a piece of scrap first to ensure that I could pull the brad out
: later.
: Also, I'll stick a toothpick size sliver in the hole before sanding and so
: forth.

***Make sure you don't stick the toothpick in too far, especially if you glue it in. I've heard about people who filled their holes with toothpicks or slivers, and actually glued the strips back to the forms--they acted like tiny wooden brads!***

: THE PROBLEM & QUESTION ===> Through all the above, I broke what must
: have been a weak glue joint to begin with, a couple of strips down. Is
: that a big deal?

Nope.

: I'm thinking that the epoxy and fiberglassing will negate
: the broken glue joint. I'm thinking that I should forget it, and forge
: ahead.

Yep.

: Is that right, or do I really need to address that joint? Oh, the
: strips themselves are in good shape with no gaps - it's just that if you
: push your finger against the strip, you can see that it's not glued to the
: other. Otherwise, you'd never know. The length of the unglued joint is
: about 6".

There may be a slight "light gap" where you can see daylight if you stick your head inside the hull. I have lots of these...I don't lose sleep over them.

You can also glue a strip inside the offending strips, spanning the joint. This strip will keep the two sides level while sanding and glassing the outside. Pop it off and then sand and glass the inside.

Shawn