Try 2- cold soak - no go.  A bit of internet searching (incl dept of agriculture article) indicates that heat is a key to getting 'plasticity'.    So, needs to be hot.  More reading - a bit simpler than a steam box - pouring hot water over wet towels.  So, here's try 3:

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Seems to work on test piece.  But not as well as hoped, and I'm worried it will cool off too quickly to get a full length piece into the boat.  A candy thermometer shows I only got to about 160 degrees - we'll treat that as a minimum.  Seems worth a try.

Also need some nails.  Island Falls Canoe has some.  Of course they have no internet ordering, so I'll need to call.  According to the old xerox article, need 3/4 or 11/16 inch tacks.  Island Falls has copper.  Round and flat head - I'll try round - hopefully easier to sink flat into the planking.  $18 for half a pound...

On vacation next week, may be a while before posting...

Steaming attempt number 1.  Consists of a 4" PVC pipe, dryer flex hose, a backpacking stove and a funnel.  (I spent all of $19  on the PVC, the rest from the basement...  A few coat hanger sections through the pipe for a rack and good to go.  You can see the result here.  Looks good.

Unfortunately, it does not work.  The contraption creates steam, and some even comes out the end (when not plugged with a rag).  But, it is barely warm by the time it gets to the end of the 6 feet of pipe.  Steaming a test piece for an hour had no impact on its pliability.  Back to the drawing board.  Need something with more heat, more steam and perhaps insulated.  Might get some more steam using a camp stove, but on-line forums indicate propane burners, a la maple syrup boilers are more like it.

Seems much too complicated for what I am trying to do, so we'll go with  something more primitive.  I'll just soak it for a while and see if that works!  (The picture includes our celebration for pi day.  The pic is not at 9:29, but we'll pretend it is and note that the time is 3.1415926.  That won't happen again for a while!)

You'll have to wait for the next post to see if a good long soak in the tub is better than a short steam bath.

Finished stripping gunnels!  Done with stripping for now (whew)

I have also removed one rib near the rear, and will use this location to do a test rib.  Rib was removed by chipping to and around a nail with a chisel, snipping the end off the nail and removing it from the outside.  Tedious, but not bad.

Now to buy materials for a steamer.  Current plan is to use a camp stove with a small (5.5" D) pot.  A 4" to 6" PVC junction placed on top.  4' of 4" drier flex hose to another 4" to 6" PVC junction.  5' of 6" PVC pipe with coat hanger wire drilled through for a 'shelf'.  Hopefully, I can fire up the stove and there will be enough heat to keep the steam to the end of my steam box.  I am worried that the steam might cool off too much, condense and run back without getting the end hot and steamy, but we shall see.

Out of town for the upcoming weekend, but hopefully another post soon with the results.