For the boat you see below, there are 16 forms that are aligned preciously on a backbone. Using any wood, cut strips 18' long, 3/8' wide and 1/8" thick, perhaps with a tongue and groove for convenience. Starting at the waterline and working south, lay your strips onto the form, stapling the strip to each form. A strip this thin needs no stream to bend and will snuggly wrap around the form. A little glue in each tongue, attach the strip to each form as you work towards the bottom covering the bottom half of the forms.

When the bottom of the hull is done, remove the staples, take the collective strips from the form and set aside for later. Turn the backbone and forms over so not to disturb the alignment of the forms and strip the top half of the kayak. Don't worry about the cockpit or hatches - those get cut out later. When you are finished with the top, remove it from the forms and set it aside.

Next is fiberglass. Use epoxy that is "organic" as opposed to polyester. The setup time is longer (time you will need to do a neat job) and has a more benign odor. You need only a well ventilated space, not a mask. Putting down a single layer of 2-4oz. glass cloth with epoxy is a messy business and the only thing that separates you from this goo is a pair of latex gloves. Glass the inside of the kayak's two halves first before attempting to joining the top and bottom halves. It's always an exciting time to see the two halves fit together but the strength of the lap joint between the two halves depends upon it. The curing time requires days before you can do a light sanding.

Now cut out the hatches. Use a template for the fore & aft hatches and make the cut accurate. The inside of the hole you cut will later become the hatch. Do the same for the cockpit. Rather than having just a hole in the hull where water can splash into the cockpit, you need a cockpit cowling, 1/8th inch thick veneer strips epoxied together around a form. It will provide a lip onto which a "splash skirt" can be attached. You protect the inside of the kayak from getting wet in choppy water by slipping the bottom of your shirt over the lip of the cowling and pull tight the draw string to fasten it to the kayak. We call this special garment a splash skirt.

Finally comes the sanding and varnishing - about a week of finishing all the surfaces, the installation of rigging, foot pegs, knee braces and seat - it's a boat.