: I am building a Merganser 16 and for a bit of a feature I thought I might
: build the strip cockpit outlined in Eric's instructions and Nick's book.
: I have got the risers in place and they look pretty nice (red pine)
: I found a piece of tasmanian ash and cut the 1/8" by 7'strips for the
: rim (a few spare as well).
: When I tried bending these dry they snapped on the tight curve at the edges
: of the back of the coaming.
: So I soaked the remainder in A PVC pipe full of water in the sun for 3
: days....
: Some improvement but still not enough.

: Is there something I should know about this process??

: Thankyou in advance

: Nicholas Sheahan
: Mildura Australia
Hi Nicholas,

It helps to wrap the outside piece with a band of some sort. I used nylon strapping tape and it worked well. You could try that plastic banding material or the metal strapping would work also. You could also cut your strips a little thinner to help bending and just use more strips to achieve the lip width you want. A heat gun also works well to help the wood bend.
Kurt Hoffman