I'm building the canoe "Sweet Dream" from Marc Pettengill's book (at least I think that's the name). Today I drilled the holes around the stem, and tied the lower stem with wire ties. Then, per the instructions in the book, I am beginning to force the stem closed. Oh yeah, I have sanded the inside edge of the seam, hoping to avoid problems with the joint slipping. At any rate, with the thing about half-way closed, I'm getting some significant cracking. I suspect I might just need to be more careful to keep the forefoot aligned correctly as I close it, but I wanted to hear from the communal brain here at kayakforum before I press on. I've posted some pictures on my webpage - if they don't load up for you at first attempt, maybe try copying the address into a browser window - the pictures are there, but sometimes links from here don't seem to work right for me. At any rate, thanks for whatever suggestions you might have to offer.

http://us.geocities.com/ptlyons/

Peter