Hi Mike, this does tend to be a fairly wet and sticky dough, but if you happened to have substituted another brand of flour or used our Unbleached All-Purpose flour in place of the Bread flour, this could definitely make the dough stickier and harder to handle. This is because other brands of flour tend to be lower in protein than our flour and AP flour is lower in protein than Bread flour. With a lower protein flour you'll not only get less gluten development, but also a wetter dough because lower protein flours absorb less liquid than higher protein flours. The other variable in this recipe is the timing and temperature of your environment, which will impact how the dough ferments (as you've noted). Too little rise and fermentation can make for a slack dough that doesn't want to hold its shape, but over-fermented dough can also be difficult to shape because the dough structure can begin to break down and release moisture. When I made this recipe I also found it quite sticky when it came time to shape the dough, but using flour on my work surface and on top of the dough helped quite a bit. And keep in mind that Martin has hands that have handled thousands and thousands of loaves, and what looks easy to handle for him won't seem quite so easy for bakers who don't have all those loaves under their belt. I suspect your bread will still turn out beautiful and delicious, even if you did have difficulty shaping it. 

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