AaronO,

Have faith, there is help here.
It's not as hard as it might seem, but you might have to do things twice to find that out.

My only suggestion to start is to not use cove and bead.
Flat sided strips, hand fitted along the length with plane, file, sandpaper and knife makes a good fitting strip, and is really easier.

Marc

: Hello Kayak forum readers! I'm in the process of buiding my first
: strip built kayak, a guillemot, and I'm wondering if anyone out
: there knows if there is a place i can buy cove and bead cedar
: strips near Portland, ME? All of my searching has led me to
: believe that chesapeak light craft may have the monopoly on
: supplying these. Is there anywhere else?

: Are there any other kayak builders out there around Portland, ME? I
: think as a first time builder I could use a few pointers. Most
: of the time I feel like I don't know what the hell i'm doing!
: The only encouraging thing is that the strongback does seem to
: look like a kayak, so i must be on the right track...

: Thanks,
: AaronO.