I have bandaids on both my thumb and finger today. You'd think after slicing the finger I'd figure it out, but no....

> Hi Don:

> I made internal stems for my Guillemot Expedition Single. When I stripped
> keel-wards from the sheer, I interleaved the ends in what Nick described
> as a finger joint. Left, right, left, right... Eventually, it became clear
> that the ends of the strips no longer wanted to interleave, but wanted to
> meet in a joint. I chose the method in Nick's book that divides the hull
> into two half-footballs. I used a pair of the straightest, cleanest strips
> I had, and tapered them to fit into the vee at the bow and stern, just
> where the stem had recently disappeared.

> I then had two sections to fill. The pattern I used to fill these sections
> was to apply a strip along the edge nearest the sheer, then on the same
> section, apply a strip along my "keel strips". One, two,
> outside, inside. Move to the other half-football, repeat. Two, switch
> sides, two, switch, two, switch. The sections shrank rapidly to the size
> of less than a single strip. Whittling time.

> This pattern gave nice balance to the sides and the alternating joint line
> was pleasing to the eye, and didn't detract from the lines of the boat. It
> was really easy to do, too. In fact, the tapering steps to make each strip
> fit was intimidating at first. Wow, I thought, _every_ strip is different
> now, no two are the same length or have the same angle. I never expected
> those facts to present the opportunity for the most enjoyable woodworking
> part of the whole boat. A sharp block plane and cedar strips make a very
> satisfying combination.

> Ed Valley