Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. After much layout wrangling, it looks like we're going to be able to get 6 coaming rings out of our 1/2" okoumé, though just barely. As long as the bow and stern plates are small enough that they can come out of 16x30" coaming scrap, we ought to be set.

There are no set dimensions for these, but I think they are, aren't they?

Anyway, once that's done, we'll follow the suggestion to find the nicest 1/4" non-marine ply we can, to use for the lip.

-Jonathan and Amy

: Hi everyone,

: Scarfing is well underway for our Yost SeaTour EXP 15s, and we're looking
: forward to the next steps. One quandry we're foreseeing, however, is that
: while there's certainly enough wood in our 4'x8' sheet of 1/2" okoumé
: for the frames and bow/stern plates of both boats, the coaming rings
: appear to be another story.

: The manual calls for three rather large rings of the 1/2" stuff, capped
: by a lip made of 1/4" ply. Since I don't want to buy an additional
: sheet of 1/4" okoumé, or use up a ton of the stuff I do have, the
: scheme I've in mind goes something like this: -Use 1/2"
: exterior-grade plywood for the first two coaming rings.

: -Instead of a third 1/2" ring and a 1/4" lip, simply cut the lip
: out of the 1/2" okoumé.

: -After they've been well sealed, wrap the edges of the ugly lower-grade
: plywood in some nice-looking bendy wood to preserve the "look".

: This plan would leave the coaming 1/4" lower and possibly slightly
: heavier than it would be according to the plans, but has the advantage of
: conserving our okoumé, and saving us money, while looking "just as
: good".

: So my question is, is this a foolish thing to be considering? How important
: is that extra quarter inch? Would a thicker coaming lip somehow be a
: problem? What about the non-marine aspect? I don't envision the coaming
: getting persistently soaked, but then again, I don't have enough
: experience to know what to expect.

: Thanks!

: -Jonathan and Amy