I'm not a boat builder but I am an accomplished woodworker. I've used an old
microwave oven to heat small pieces to bend. I've also seen a homemade
contraption built by a woodowrker that uses a piece of pipe placed through the
center of an old 250 gal propane tank. It looks like an oversize B-B-Que pit.
He lights a fire in the tank, slids his wood through the pipe and heats it. It
seems to work very effectively for the bent wood rocking chairs he
manufacturers. Just a thought!

I think some of the folks here are forgetting that it is the heat, not
the moisture that allows the cell walls to get soft. See Greg, I have
read your pages Anyway, I think the steam helps in delivering that
heat in a even, manageable fashion. I have heard of folks bending
without steam, just heat but I have not tried..
Scotty... still with tail between legs...