I have a boat I built based on Tom Yost's Sea Ranger and Sea Rider boats. It's quick little boat but I have never been comfortable in it. It i were built traditional sty where there were not plywood frames at my calves I might like it better. I find it uncomfortable because of it's narrow width.

I build using this style and love my bigger boats!

: (2) why or why not would I want to glue things together vs. tie them
: together?

I just answered a similar question on another forum. so here is my answer.

As George Dyson said"
“The puzzle is not why did human beings start lashing things together, but why did they stop? We still sew our clothing, sails and tents and our surgeons still sew us. But we no longer sew or lash much else.”

"When two pieces of high tempered thin-wall aluminum tubing are attached with eight turns of 60 pound test twine, you can be sure that it will something close to 8 x 4 x 60, or 1800 lbs to pull them apart. There is no risk of metal fatigue, and the joint will flex elastically (and repeatedly) long before it breaks. Shock absorption is built in every boat."

"Not only are lashed fastenings unusually robust and structurally sound, they are pleasant to work with, are forgiving of sloppy craftsmanship, and celebrate the abilities of human hands.. If you complete a a seam or lashing and decide it could be done better, you just undo it and try again. You can stop work at a moments notice, and resume any time. You can strive for perfection but a haphazard looking lashing will be almost as strong."

I have built using the more common methods, screws and epoxy and I have found that I greatly prefer lashing. I see several advantages. Its cheap! A roll of sinew is $5 and that is enough to build at least 3 boats.

I can lash one in roughly the same amount of time it takes me to screw one together, then take it apart, epoxy the joints and screw it back together. Then clean up the excess epoxy that is squeezed out.

Plus if the phone rings in the middle of lashing or someone walks in I just tie it off with a couple of wraps and answer. With epoxy I am committed to work faster.

It's easy to repair if something does break. I have yet to have a lashed joint break and I have had epoxy joints fail. I am sure I did something wrong but I had no warning, they looked fine and just turned loose. With lashing once it is finished I know if I made a mistake.

Plus it is simple for a beginner to learn. I expect to be working with a lot of first time builders.

The drawbacks are...... I haven't found any. Well sore hands and fingers after a day or lashing.