Howdie Matt. You'll find that there are several boat builders in Texas. In addition we are going to have a Texas Kayak Builder's Bash at White Rock Lake in Dallas. You can get all the details by going to my site and reading the little article about the Bash. First of all...there are no stupid questions. Even brain surgery may seem a little difficult to the uninitiated...but after your first couple of operations...hey...it's a snap. Building boats is exactly the same. Once you've built a few it'll be a snap. The answer to your question is generally that, yes, the forms should all face the same way. If it looks weird or the strips don't fair nicely then you know you've got a problem. You will get many fine answers from the guys on this board. In addition you can email me for any specifics if you want. Do a search on this forum for forms and strongbacks. You should get all kinds of information that way. You can also take a look at the HV16 building journal on my site to see a strongback set up with forms...and the rest of the building details. Browse around, you'll learn...then have more questions. Don't hesitate to ask.

: Let me introduce myself. My name is Matt Flanery, and I live in Tyler, Texas.
: Ok, I visited this site too many times and I decided to build a Guillemot.
: I have been aquiring the tools and wood and I have finally started the
: boat today. I have never built a kayak before, but I did build a Glen-L
: "honker" duck boat last year. I have my forms cut and I am
: setting them on the strongback. I have a stupid question. Do all of the
: forms face the same direction on the strongback? I got it my head
: somewhere that the first 8 face the bow and the the last 8 face the stern.
: I guess I was thinking that they must face opposite directions because the
: ones in the middle are large enought to preclude me from seeing the later
: ones when viewing directly from the front. Now that I am typing this
: question, I am starting to think that they should all face the bow and I
: am just going to have to change my angle by stepping to the side of the
: boat to see the refrence lines. Sorry to bother you with such a
: no-brainer. I promise to have some harder questions later. Thanks in
: advance guys. I cant wait to start stipping.

: Matt F.

: P.S. How did yall ("yall" is a word in Texas) mount your end pieces
: to the strongback?