This evening I added a 2nd nylon thread on my seams alternating with the original thread. It straightened out the stitching quite a bit.
It should be a stronger seam now (still worried about how tight the skin is now - will try to find some experts - although it's kind of hard to judge this with pictures).
I shrank the skin this afternoon. It's drum-tight (If I knew how to play the drum I could just stop now). No problems with the seams. It's ready for the 2-part poly.
I learned of these folks from a guy at the Canadian Canoe Museum who was in the middle of building a kayak when I visited in August. He gave me a strong endorsement of their cloth and urethane. I expect it will take 3 or 4 coats but they are applied in rapid succession over a couple hour period (not an all day affair as with epoxy). Bottom done one day, deck the next. I'm currently waiting for them to ship me some pigment to mix into the B-part to color it (I was going to dye it but they recommended against using dye under the urethane citing longevity concerns). I should be able to get some actual experience with the urethane next week and can post my results.
After experimenting with a couple different pigment colors, I settled on an iron oxide based pigment. Tuesday and Wednesday this week were finish days (bottom Tuesday, top Wednesday). The finish is still a bit tacky (touching it leaves a fingerprint that disappears over a period of seconds). I'll leave it set for a few days before I get it in the water (if the water is still liquid at that time - parts of the lake are frozen now...).
The final weight came in at 27.1 pounds (It will go up a small amount once I add rigging but not too much).
I put it in the water on Saturday.... But only for a few minutes. It snowed a bunch on Sunday so I'm thankful for even the short paddle. I'll look forward to getting some more experience with it soon. Need to carve a Greenland paddle this winter...