I finally did get my ribs bending right. I bought a couple of ash boards,
made sure I got the grain orientation right, and it went really well.

It's interesting what you said about the relative difficulty of building boats. This is my second kayak - the first was an S&G. It seems to me
that the SOF is a lot easier. I had trouble getting the panels to line up,
then there was all that wiring. And I really didn't like working with the
fiberglass and epoxy. I never was happy with the appearance of my boat
(although functionally it's great.) So far other than the temporary problems
with bending ribs the SOF was been really easy and it's going a lot faster.
Now that the ribs are done I feel like the end is in sight and I'll be paddling
it soon.

So I guess it's all in your point of view, and what kind of work you like
doing.

Chris