: There must be something wrong with me, I've not quite finished my current
: kayak, but I am planning for my next one.

Planning ONLY one boat ahead? There is something wrong with you.

: I am nearly finished on my Pygmy Arctic Tern HI (boy is that a big boat,
: might possibley be too big, good for trips though) I've just got som
: fiddly work to do with fittings and cockpit, then varnish. It's to be
: formally named "Bacchus"

: My next boat will be a skin on frame; more or less traditional styled,
: tentitavly named "Wyeast 1968"

: In Morris' book, he describes sewing the skin down the center of the deck,
: one seam per boat, using one large piece of fabric.

: Cunningham describes stretching the fabric over the boat and stapeling to the
: sheer, one piece for the hull and one for the deck. then sewing them
: together at the shear, removing the staples as you go.

: On one hand you have one piece to sew with one seam to make all of your
: mistakes on, on the other you have staples. I would think taht having the
: seams running along the shear might look pretty good....

The staples are not an issue - whatever you use to seal the skin will easily seal the staple holes. So don't let that worry you.

My first skin boat was built using Putz' technique - separate pieces for the hull and deck, stapled at the sheer, covered with a gunwale strip (no sewing!). Based on the experience of getting the cloth tight, I would be tempted to go with Cunningham's method. In getting the bottom tight, the fabric was bunching at the sheer - don't see how I could have gotten the deck tight with one piece.

When Jay Babina skinned his boat, he used one piece of cloth, with a center seam. He pulled the hull tight first and stapled it at the shear. He then worked the excess to get the deck tight. After he stitched the seam, he removed the staples. If you go with a single seam, this is probably the easiest way to do it.

On my next skin boat, I was planning to put the seams at the sheer. But I may redesign the boat to make it a folder, in which case I will go with a center seam - actually lacing. If I do go with the center seam, I will use Jay's technique of temporarily stapling at the sheer.

Ken