First, an introduction to what I've been working on, Then a question...

I drew a Greenland- style kayak, 18' LOA by 20" beam. Basically, it is the shape and proportion of a SOF hull sized for me, but S&G construction. Being a one-of a kind, I'm now at the stage of adjusting the stitched hull to get it to fit the forms. (the preliminary offset table needs a few tweaks!) But I will soon be ready to fillet and glass, which brings me to a question.

Since this is a prototype, at first I planned to deck with plywood. But, I also want to get some experience with other building techniques, so I am considering stripping the deck.

Keep in mind that in this design, most of the deck will go flat across from gunwale to gunwale, like a SOF. The cockpit area will have the 'hump' for the toes and knees.

How do I make sure that the deck remains properly aligned when it is finally attached? And I also need to get more glue surface in there so I can round over the edge. I was considering a couple of options:

1)Make a shear clamp like a CLC boat, to give a gluing surface for deck attachment. Then make the outermost strip hang over a little so that after the deck is attached, it can be sanded fair.

2)Build the shear clamp in the proper place on the underside of the deck. This option may have the advantage that I could add carlins for support directly to the underside of the deck, and install the whole thing as an assembly.

What are other hybrid builders doing?

Also, should I build the coaming before or after attaching the deck?

Regards,

Dave Murphy