The wave on the hull is the only part of the design that I wouldn't do again. The problem is that it crosses the keel which makes fairing difficult. This is especially true where the keel is sharp (near the bow and stern). The strips that make the wave don't want to make the sharp bend over the keel, and thus when you fair them they get very thin. The other problem is that if the wave crosses the keel at a point that is not over a form, the strips don't rise to the keel line and thus wood needs to added to the outside to make things fair.

The wave on the hull and the curves on the deck were made by using multiple 3/16" wide strips that bend very easily. On the deck it was a little harder because the strips have to bend over the top of the deck and along the length. The pine had no problem with this, but the red cedar tended to split (I had to redo it a few times).

I wish Nick's book had been published before I finished stripping because there are some hints in the "getting artistic" section that would have helped with both the hull and deck designs.

The only full length strips I used were the red cedar strips on the hull. The design breaks things up so that full length strips are unnecessary. I did have to scarf some pine strips together because my strips were only 6 feet long. I found this to be easy and the resulting joint is virtually invisible. Next time I won't use any full length strips (18ft. clear boards are expensive).

If you have any questions please feel free to send me e-mail.

> Pete,

> Yow!! That's gorgeous! Your flush hatches are nearly undetectable. Very
> nice craftmanship. Nice 'wave' on the hull--was that difficult? I'd be
> very interested in hearing a building report on the difficulty of your
> artistic use of strips. It looks like there were very few full-length
> strips used. Please tell us more!

> Beautiful work. Skip the honey-do list and start the next one.