S&G kayak building question

I'm building a CLC Chesapeake 16LT from plans (my second project), and
I'm as far as having the hull assembled with the copper stitching, but
no epoxy yet. Before making everything permanent, I'm carefully
aligning the plywood panels and snugging the copper. Mostly so far so
good.

In sighting down the keel line with the hull upside down, however,
there is a sizeable and noticeable "hump" from the aft bulkhead to the
stern, with amidships and bow much flatter. I've tried squeezing,
pushing, & clamping various parts to try and adjust the shape; but
I've come to the conclusion that the shape of the bottom panels need
to be adjusted.

So what to do? I could live with it as is. (No, it's too severe for
that.)

I could completely disassemble the boat and recut the bottom panels,
then reassemble & hope for better.

What I'm thinking, though, is that I can unwire just the hump area and
make adjustments in place by cutting directly along the keel joint
with a jigsaw, strategically removing thin incremental passes until
the hump decreases and the hull shape becomes what it should be.

Any thoughts?

rb608 wrote:
> I'm building a CLC Chesapeake 16LT from plans (my second project), and
> I'm as far as having the hull assembled with the copper stitching, but
> no epoxy yet. Before making everything permanent, I'm carefully
> aligning the plywood panels and snugging the copper. Mostly so far so
> good.
>
> In sighting down the keel line with the hull upside down, however,
> there is a sizeable and noticeable "hump" from the aft bulkhead to the
> stern, with amidships and bow much flatter. I've tried squeezing,
> pushing, & clamping various parts to try and adjust the shape; but
> I've come to the conclusion that the shape of the bottom panels need
> to be adjusted.
>
> So what to do? I could live with it as is. (No, it's too severe for
> that.)
>
> I could completely disassemble the boat and recut the bottom panels,
> then reassemble & hope for better.
>
> What I'm thinking, though, is that I can unwire just the hump area and
> make adjustments in place by cutting directly along the keel joint
> with a jigsaw, strategically removing thin incremental passes until
> the hump decreases and the hull shape becomes what it should be.
>
> Any thoughts?

I wouldn't use a jigsaw, as the amount you need to remove is likely to
be less than you think and you'll have little control in such an awkward
situation. That's a recipe for problems. Use a block plane to shave the
panels down or sand them to shape.