I too selected the great auk as my first (and so far only) attempt at strip, and went with the radiused edge on the deck using hand bevelled strips. When I put the first strip along the shear line of the deck, I couldn't get it to follow the curve all the way along the length. So I placed the strip at the shear line at each end, but about half an inch above the shear line in the middle. Then I filled the gap that was left in the middle with a sort of cheater strip - very difficult shape to cut but it allowed me to follow the curve much better. I suppose that means that effectively my first strip was a highly tapered strip that tapered away to nothing at each end, and thinking about it now, it would probably have been much easier to build it that way!

I'm sure you're probably not supposed to do it like that, but it worked for me.

: I have selected the "Great Auk" kayak as my first attempt at strip
: builting. I will be hand beveling the strips with a block plane.I have
: lofted the offsets to produce my forms and have decided to go with the
: radiused edge on the deck where it meets the shear line. At the bow and
: stern the radius will reduce in size to eventually become an angular
: intersection of the deck and the hull.

: I plan on placing a full width strip along the shear line on the hull side.
: Now my questions are: 1/ How do I strip the begining of the deck at the
: sheer line, when there is a generous radius at the center of the kayak the
: gets increasingly smaller and eventually becomes an angular joint towards
: the bow and stern?
: 2/ Should I tapper the width of the first few deck strips as the radius gets
: smaller?