Hello, everyone. I'm using stapleless methods on my Outer Island. I'm a little unclear about transitioning from the hull to the deck.

If I don't remove the hull from the forms now, I won't be able to later, because I have to work it from the inside to pop loose the hot glue, rather than removing staples from the outside. Once I enclose the deck, I can no longer get to the inside.

I saw on Ross Leidy's site that he went ahead and glassed the hull exterior (to provide some strength), popped the forms loose, then put them back in. Presumably, he then was able to easily remove the hull when the deck was finished, and work on freeing the deck from the hot glue. I, also, am a little concerned about popping the forms out of the hull prior to some extra support. My workspace is tight, and it seems like it would only take a smal mishap to create a big problem if the hull had no form support and no glassing - seems to fragile to handle safely.

Okay, so here's the question -- before glassing the hull exterior, I will need to finish all my fairing and sanding. But, when I put the first deck strips up against the shear strip on the hull, the strip thicknesses won't match, and with a glassed hull, I can't plane them at the same time and thereby get a fair joint. What's the solution? How are you folks handling that? ALso, how are you keeping the forms in place after you put them back into the hull? There isn't anything left to hold them in the right position.

Thanks again for the guidance.

Rick