> Anyways, your idea
> seems a whole lot easier if you have already installed some deck beams
> that are too high (ie; higher than the stem to stem plane), or if you
> havent yet installed any of them. But if you have already installed all of
> the deck beams ...

Measure twice, cut once.

If they are all installed, without benefit of checking alignment at each step, the process becomes a bit more involved, but a simple straight edge still makes things simpler. Just set the thing on top of the deckbeams. it will come to rest on the higest one. If the beam seems to be jsut a bit high, either shave shave it down, or build up the centermost deack beam so the straightedge is supported at three points: The bow ( or stern), the centermost deck beam, and the deck beam that was previously the worst case. The endpoints define a straight line, the beam between them should just barely touch the straightedge.

Use continous strips (more, thin, laminations), as shims to raise the other deck beams. Fit them one at a time.

> (17 in brian's case),

Sounds like a lot of work, but cedar is fast to work with. A sharp plane or a coarse belt on a belt sander will get the wood to the right thickness rapidly.

> and the problem is that they are too
> low, it might be easier to fit a single corrective piece to each beam than
> to figure out 4 or 5 raiser blocks for each using the straight edge.

Hmm. you seem to think I meant maeasuring and using blocks. Nope. I'd sue a strip that runs from left edge all the way over the top of the deckbeam to the right edge. I'd use the straight edge to show me how thick that shimming strip should be at various points along its length. Using that info, like points on a poiece of graph paper, I'd try to get a strip that was close to those measurements. I see four possible situations for these strips. A) The deck beam is low and needs to be shimmed an even amount around its perimeter. This would call for a strip of even thickness. Make one a bit thicker than needed and glue it into place. B) The beam needs to be higher in the center, but the sides fit fine. Here you put on a strip that is thicker in the center and tapers at both ends. It is probably easier to do some of this shaping with a bandsaw or plane (off the boat) before installing the strip. If you mess up, you just get a new stick and try again. use your measurements to see that this strip is slightly greater than needed at those places you have marked. C) Opposite of B, The height is fine but the beam needs to be filled out at the ends. Here the strip is thinner in the middle. D) Really irregular. Good luck !!! Use the straight edge to measure variations at close intervals and transfer this information to the shim strip you are working on. Get it as close as you can before installing it. Here you stand a good chance of making mistakes, and they will be easier to correct off the boat. You can easily get another strip and go back to carving it to fit, as many times as it takes to get it right.

When you think you have one of these things close to the shape you want, bend it over the deck beam and clamp it in place ( temporarily) with a C clamp at each end. Check with your straight edge. When it is close, glue it in. You will see if you have taken off too much.

If the shim strip wood does not bend easily to follow the existing deakbeaam, use tww layers of thinner material.

> Although, now that I think about it, blocks would certainly allow for
> easier drainage when emptying a capsized kayak.

Water outside of the cockpit? You mean you don't build airtight, water tight, expanding when hot, suctioning when cold, wheezing through gas-mask valve, floatation areas? Blocks probably would provide good drainage. However, you can also cut a small, shallow channel in the center of the deckbeam before installing the deck. You can use a router, rasp, saw etc. Imagine where water would collect if the boat was upside down, and put a hole there to allow it to drain. The alternative is crawling into a very tight area with a drill later on and carefully drilling a few `weep holes`.

Hope this clarifies the previous mud.

Paul Jacobson