Then there is Astigmatism...yep, I can close one eye, line the string up with the keel line, check the waterline, walk around the strong back twenty times, and see 7 different things. I thought I had it right to begin with and to the eye it looked 98% good, then I got the level out and started checking and rechecking, it was wronger than I thought.

I told myself to begin with this isn't going to be perfect, hell, NDK maybe never made a perfect kayak, at least not the one i owned. Way less than perfect is fine, I say out loud, but the inner voice is saying something else.

My first boat of any kind was a Pygmy kit in a box, never even been in a kayak before buying the kit. I waited and hoped, planned and day dreamed, then it arrived. That thing sat in the box a week after I got it, I was afraid of it. Turned out better than I hoped except the mosquitoes and no-see-ums forever encapsulated in the amber epoxy.

So I am a few fries short of a happy meal and want it to be better than I think I am capable. Not gonna be perfect, never is....but this was a good call, a 16th I can live with, but an 8th is a redeux. After all, this is a Black Pearl we are talking about :)

: It's amazing how accurate the eye can be!! Casting your eye along
: the sheer, chine or keel will quickly point out deviations that
: you'd take forever trying to find by measuring.

: Paul - I simply butt joined all my strips on my current build (The
: Black Pearl) because I only had 8 and 12 ft lengths. I used
: small backing plates made from scrap strips and temporarily held
: them in place with hot melt glue. Worked like a charm

: Sean