: I just bought the instructions for Rob's Shooting Star so I could have
: something to puzzle and dream over. Looks like it will take some serious
: study to figure out that bow and stern. Anyone out there who has built it
: willing to be a mentor/resource? Probably not a good idea to tackle it for
: my first kayak, but I've never been one to shy away from a challenge. :-)
: I haven't decided yet - just investigating.

Patsy-

The instructions for constructing the bow and stern of the SS look harder than they really are. Maybe that was because this was my first stripper. I wasn't able to visualize some parts of the construction until I actually saw the pieces in front of me. For instance, I had a hard time figuring out Rob's description of figuring out how far to strip the stern pieces before you start bringing the hull strips back onto the stern. Once you put the stern piece on the strongback, Rob's instructions are pretty obvious. In total I think I spent a couple hours building the bow pieces. I'm sure I spent at least a week thinking about how to build it. The stern is a difficult section since it is the first thing you strip and is the most challenging. Rob's suggestions about using a heat gun, and Bobby Curtis' suggestion to wrap the strip in cloth to keep the wood moist were very useful in stripping the stern. I stripped the stern section on my boat with red cedar and had a pine accent strip. I built without staples so it couldn't have been too hard.

wes

wes