Time to cut out the cockpit. I took the initial template provided with the plans I purchased and used spray adhesive to glue it to a piece of cardboard. Since I needed to trace the template, it seemed to make sense to glue it to something thicker than the paper the template was supplied on. After gluing it, I transferred some form lines to the back side of the template so I could flip the template over and use either side. Then I used a couple of small spring clamps to clamp the cardboard to the deck in the proper position. Then I simply traced the outline, as shown here.

Here you can see the result of my tracing of the template.

And the whole cockpit outline traced. If you look closely, you'll see some staples directly in the path of the cockpit outline. I had to pull some staples in order to cut out the template. I used a heavy-duty office staple remover to achieve this, and it worked very well. Based on this experience, I'm not quite as concerned about pulling the rest of the staples now. I don't think it'll take as long as I originally anticipated, especially once I get into a groove.

I used a jigsaw to cut out the cockpit. However, at the joints where the forms meet the deck, I simply left them and came back with a pull-saw to cut those final pieces. Here you can see the roughed-out cockpit hole.

And here's a view of the kayak from the front, with the new cockpit hole cut out.

Here I'm knocking out the cockpit "knock-offs". These are the portions of forms 9, 10, and 11 that I had originally cut and then re-glued. They served the purpose of ensuring proper curvature during the stripping of the deck. Now, during the cockpit build-up phase, they would be in the way. So, get out the hammer & bang 'em off. You can see the form to the left of the hammer has already been knocked off, and I'm whacking another. Beneath me, to the left of my feet, you can see the scraps from the cockpit cut-out.

A view of the cockpit from the back end of the kayak, with the knock-offs gone.

I really like this picture. It is perhaps the most kayak-looking shot of the boat to date. I turned out the overhead lights, left the lamp on, and took a flash-free picture. I really like the way this one turned out. Now, imagine it with the staples gone, the kayak body faired out and fiberglassed, the cockpit built up, hatches cut ...