: Hello all,
: I finally fit the last strip on my first build. Only took a little
: over a year to get to this point so I'm kind of excited about it
: :)
: My thought was to start pulling staples soon while weather is still
: tolerable. Fair/sand throughout the winter and be ready for
: glass in the spring when it warms up. I live in Michigan and am
: working in an unheated garage. so the sanding progress would
: more than likely be quite slow..

: Will I be shooting myself in the foot by pulling staples pre-winter
: and letting it sit that way for extend periods? Will the two
: halves keep their shape on the stations, but staple-less?

: Thanks much for any advice.

I would leave the staples in until you are ready to sand and fair the hull/deck. After you fair and sand the hull/deck, I would, as soon as possible, start fiberglassing the kayak.. If you remove the staples, the sheerline/sides of the kayak could flair out. I know here in Florida, the humidity has caused me fits with a warping strongback, flairing sides, warp boards/plywood....you name it I had to deal with it. You are probably ok with the hull or deck off the forms for a couple of days. But just in case I made cross braces the same width as the stations, and installed them anytime I had the hull or deck off the forms/strongback. I still had some warping of the deck, bowing upward on the ends about 1/2 inch in the center of the deck., even after i fiberglassing. This was easily corrected when and sealed the hull and deck together with strapping tape.