> Need some advice.... After much frustration in trying to attach the bottom
> and side panels of my CLC Chesapeake 17, I tossed the copper wire away and
> used small plastic ties like those used to attach cables and wires. The
> panels came together nicely...tight, no gaps. What I have sitting on my
> sawhorses actually looks like it might become a kayak! I realize that
> drilling larger holes in the panels and using plastic ties will mean a
> change in plans when it comes time to applying a finish, but this problem
> can wait. I'm having a difficult time visualizing the fillets along the
> seams.... ...are they as flat as a Hershey bar, but not as wide? Are they
> thick and narrow like a Twizzler?...Milky Way, Mounds, Mars Bar, stick of
> gum? Should the fillets cover the plastic ties (they are certainly more
> visible and larger than the copper wire)? Thanks to all who help!

I also used plastic wire ties on my CLC, far superior to wire I think. My fillets not-quite covered the ties in areas that are covered by the deck, and mostly covered the ties in the cockpit area (for esthetic reasons). What I think is most important is that the ties are covered enough so that the glass tape, when applied, does not have air bubbles under it. With the larger fillets inside I did not tape the outside seams. I did, however, glass the bottom between the chines. I've run over rocks, banged into things, driven at 70 MPH in 30 MPH winds with my CLC on my car roof with no ill effects.