: Okay, the planning is getting intense...I'm trying to figure out some details
: and I thought I'd ask this...so if it is dumb, then my secret is out!

: #1 Anyone ever use instant glues? Are there problems? Or is it just too
: expensive?

: #2 Should I add a keel strip...maybe from Ash?

: #3 Is "Inland Cedar" (?) okay to use?

In reverse order: #3). I'm not familiar with the species. Sounds like a generic term for whatever cedar they have on hand. If it looks like cedar and acts like cedar, use it.

#2) Worry about adding a keel strip after the boat is 'glassed. You would have a hard time putting on the cloth on the hull if you had to work over a ridge from such a thing, so the time to add it is rather late in the game. To add one, you just glue it on with epoxy. Then you can leave it bare as a sacrificial "grunge" strip that can be sanded off when it gets really beat up, or you can cover it with a layer of glass cloth and resin. Since these things can be added so easily, build without it and try out the boat for a while before adding a keel. Chance are that if you need to improve tracking you would be better off with just a skeg than a full keel. (and you can add a skeg the same way)

#1) Too expensive for my taste, and unnecessary. Carpenter's glue sets up in an hour or so. I can always hang three strips and then go work on the other side of the boat on the matching 3 while the glue sets. After that it's time to get out of the hot sun for a few minutes. By the time I come back the glue on the first side is set and I can add more strips.

With stapled construction the staples hold the strips until the glue sets. With hotmelt glue techniques you get about the same thing. And of course with clamps and bungies you can eliminate the staples.

hope this helps

PGJ