Hey Kurt:

I toyed with the idea of keeping my old deck but there were too many things about it hat I did not like - I fooled up and made the cockpit too big and sloppy, I screwed up on the pad eyes yadda yadda yadda. After building the Black Pearl I realized how easy it is to build with strips, so replacing the deck didn't seem like such a challenge anymore. I'm very glad that I went ahead with the project. It's really working our great. I am doing the fill coats on the glass now and, it's amazing how much better you get with each successive boat!! You get to learn all the tips, tricks, trials and tribulations dnd keep them in your "tool box" of skills!!

As for cutting the deck off a boat, it's so much easier when you've built the boat yourself. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I know a guy with a production boat who sweated and fretted over drilling four teeny tiny holes in the deck to hold the compass!!

Cheers,

Sean