We've given the Waterlox Marine several days to dry. If we were using water based polyurethane, this would not have been necessary.
Start by laying out the nylon canvas over the inverted boat frame. Make sure it hangs far enough over each end so you won't come up short when you stretch the canvas over the stems.
The first staples go in in the center of the boat, in the center of the gunwale, running parallel to the line of the gunwale.
Put in five or six on each side, starting in the middle. After doing the first side, go to the other side, and while pulling the fabric as tight as you can, staple the opposite side. Now, work your way toward the ends, first one way, then the other, alternating sides; put in a few staples, then go to the other side, pull the fabric as tight as you can, before stapling. This can be tricky - you need to accomplish three things with two hands: pull the fabric taut, back up the gunwale with the same hand, and staple with your dominant hand. If the staples don't go quite all the way in, you can tap them flush with a hammer. If they go seriously askew, pull them and try again.
As you work toward the ends, you should be pulling not only straight down, bu diagonally towards the ends. You should try to pull tight enough that all the big wrinkles begin to smooth out. (small folds from the fabric being stored folded will go away when you shrink the fabric.
When you get close to the ends, instead of stretching between the gunwales, you'll be stretching the fabric between the keel and the gunwale on each side, to cover the 'triangle' on each side. Do one side first, stapling from about the first rib, toward the tip, leaving enough space between the staples to fit a second staple.
Once one side is done, use the hot knife to trim the fabric even with the edge of the stem away from the side you've just done. If your staples are correctly down the middle of the keel and stem, then there should be a good 1/4 inch of fabric outside of the staples, which is sufficient.
Your cut should end at about the first rib. Carefull not to cut into the lashing. You should not have to cut beyond this point. When you pull the second half over, it will just barely reach (see above), but as you get a couple of staples in there should be ample to overlap the cloth and get a second line of staples in.
Pull the other side across in the other direction - remember, you are now stretching not from gunwale to gunwale, but from keel (and stem) to gunwale. Get the canvas as taut as possible over this triangular end of the boat, and staple a second row of staples, along the same line as the first, but in the space between the first line.
THE SCARY PART: now you have to use the hot knife to cut away the top layer excess, without cutting into the first layer. You can lay a layer of duct tape, as insurance, over the first layer, right up to the stapes, but even so, the best way to do this is to pull the fabric out straight, away from the boat a pull as you cut, so the just melted and severed nylon will pull free as you move CAREFULLY down the cutting line.
Finish the ends as neatly as possible, as in the above photo.
Then use a hammer to make sure all the staples are tapped in completely, and cut the remaining fabric off just inside the edge of the gunwale, with the hot knife.
