: I staple the cloth to the frame, covering the
: hull and deck separately. Hammer in the staples so they are
: flush with the wood. I then glue the lap (deck over the hull)
: with contact cement.

I used to use staples as well. For the SOF I reskinned this summer using Dacron/Vectra, I tried a product called Heat-N-Bond to bond the Dacron to the frame. I bought it in the fabric section of Wally-world. It's basically hot-melt glue on a roll. You iron it on paper-side up to bond the product to the frame. I ran a perimeter around the gunwale. When it's cool peel off the paper. Then iron the Dacron to it. For the deck I used it again to bond the deck Dacron to the hull Dacron. It's very thin and conformable yet holds very well. When it's cooled off you can shrink away. In case your wondering I had no issue with the Dacron shrinking when I was bonding it to the frame.

If I ever get a chance I'll post a write-up on my website. I took plenty of pictures. I should do that before I start posting on the Night Heron... I stitched up most of the hull this morning before work.

=D