Kudzu

Then you looking at a the wrong style of boat. SOF are not suitable for white water. You need to be looking at something else. I NEVER recommend SOF boats for white water. That is a recipe for disaster.

To be blunt, I have found hatches pretty useless unless you are going camping or have need to haul a bunch of stuff. I rarely carry more than a spare paddle, water and some food maybe. Hatches just add weight and need upkeep. So I no long put them in my boats. YMMV of course. As for strip thickness on a coaming it depends on the wood. I have used maple which can be quite thick. I have used oak which has to thinner but bends well using a heat gun. I tired cherry for a client but could not get it thin enough to bend and gave up on that. I don't like wet wood because how do you glue wet wood? I bend mine dry with a heat gun, apply glue as I go. Regardless what wood you use your going to have to clamps. I bought some expensive Jorgy strap clamps that put out some really high clamping pressure but I still needed a few clamps. I see why and the curves in the coaming could be redesigned to work with a strap clamp but the design is used on ever boat and so few people laminate I am not going to do that.

Pockets are for nylon, not polyester. Follow the instructions in the book and I have video(s) on skinning on the web site.

I thought I added this, but buy you a set of canvas pliers. They are great for snugging the skin on open boats. Just watch it, you can pull it so tight you bow the stringer inward! These are the ones I have, not recommending this seller, just wanted to show what your looking for. https://usartsupply.com/products/usa-cp-521?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoub3BRC6ARIsABGhnybifaJ53VXr1p0n6g8nKQW88tSi3wg2_J0TpJgEoL3BetLzIffmAF0aAuw8EALw_wcB

Need to shut down the store for a few weeks starting July 8th. Need to have a little work done and my doctor has STRESSED light duty for 6 weeks! No exceptions. Assuming no surprises I should be able to sit in my office chair, pack boxes, print labels after a couple of weeks. Maybe less. My wonderful wife is going to do the heavy lifting for me. So we will be opening back up as soon as we can. Might be a bit slower than normal shipping though.

I alway do the ends first but I do clamp the skin to the gunwales with spring clamps, pulling it snug. You can pull the skin pretty much in place except for the ends and it helps to make sure you don't have any unexpected slack.

Agreed! The 'selling point' of SOF is its lightweight. By deviating from the design your just adding weight with no practical advantage. Canoes are heavy by SOF standards to start with.

Can't really tell but that looks like a nasty break. If it were mine I would take it apart and reskin but I know you don't want too. Without seeing a better photo I am not sure the best way. But a block might work but it will flatten out the curve the wood has taken. But the problem there is there no way to clamp the block tight to the stringer. I can't think of an easy and safe way to fix it.

I was thinking more along this line

Very common, just pull them up.

This is exactly what the boat was designed for.

As i said in the download, we offer no support on these. But my book explains how to work with offsets if you can't figure it out.

Mine came in around 35 lbs I think. I want to say 38 but I really don't remember.

Since I have way to many kayaks I splitting time between the Sea Skiff and cleaning up some land we bought. Keeps me busy.

I am all all about saving weight, while you will never know the difference paddling you will feel the difference handling the boat on land. But, while you could do what you are thinking I see no advantage and a lot of extra work and possible leaks. All your going to save is the weight difference of the deck and I would be surprised if you saved one pound by doing that.