Mike:

I was just going to throw that in the mix here too: that skin boats were built with sealskin, driftwood, and sinew lashings, with no modern materials--and they held up in the environment of seal hunting in some very harsh places.

I would think that "over-building" it, unless I was going to use it on some major expedition--is just not necessary. I sincerely appreciate everyone's answers.

: My skin boat has a 1/4"x1/4" ash lip held in place with 1/8"
: birch dowels and no adhesive. It is fine, but I carry the boat by the
: masik and not the coaming.