There's no way that hot melt is going to hold the extreme bends that some low volume back deck boats puts strips through - especially with a tough wood like redwood.

I just did a Sea Spirit strip deck and stapled the h--- out of and enjoyed every minute of it. In my humble 7 yrs of stripping, I never had one person notice my staple holes or even mention it. At boat shows people notice these things. I use my boats hard although I love them and take care of them. Staple holes for me are a fact of life.

I admire the stapless, prestine look of some stapleless boats however they always look like they're made for show use only. The overall design, symetry, handling and artistic choices outweigh any staple holes (for me)