: Bill, what are the sheer strakes made of, Cedar strips? Are these
: fitted to the under side of the deck so that they will align
: with the inside of the huill sheer strip., similar to a lip on
: the top of a lathe turned wooden box?

: Mark vander Horck

Mark-
I know your question was directed to Bill H., but I'll chime in here.

I'm just finishing a kayak project which uses a strip inside which overlaps the hull-deck joint.
Once that strip is glued to the hull (or deck) it will stiffen the edge a lot (twice the thickness = 8x stiffer), so you want to make sure that you haven't distorted the shape, so you can still join the hull/deck easily. By far the best way to ensure this is to cut slots in the forms and incorporate the 'joining strips' when you are stripping the hull and deck. Adding the 'joining strip' later is more difficult- as I discovered. (!)

The method you choose will depend on the shape of the hull-deck joint. Some boats are very 'rounded'; others have practically a 90 deg angle between a flattish deck and fairly vertical side. In the latter case, a stouter 'sheer clamp' (similar to Bill's description) can work well.

Of course, you can determine the location of the hull-deck join when you start stripping. Moving the join one strip up or down can make a difference in the ease of making things fit later on.