Hi Mike, You hit a bonanza with this forum,There will be a lot of expert advise that you can sort through, as you will see there are more than one way to build a kayak. I'm no pro but strongly advise buying Nick Schade's "the strip built sea kayak" it has a huge amount of info.
For scarfing 8 or 9 to 1 is good on the flat side, I use a modification of Nicks system that he lists in his book. Stay cool and have fun, All the best Nick R.