Fudge the center strips over...but then they won't be straight, only someone paddling the kayak--or looking along it from the bow--will notice.

Trim down some of the long strips on the left side so the short strips go longer.

If you trimmed one of the long strips down 3/16", it won't be that noticeable, and your 1/16" difference won't be noticeable either.

Or, pull the last long strip off, trim the preceding one to 5/8", and put the one back on after trimming it to 5/8....

Since it's already there, cut a fine "wedge" with a pullsaw between the last and second-to-last long strips and glue them back together...1/4" less material at the bow, tapering to nothing near where you've already cross-stripped.

Your boat is completely worthless now. Give it to me--I'll enjoy it, and tell you all about it!

Shawn

: Question: What the heck should I do near the bow? Notice that I put some
: lengthwise strips up from the sheer and 3 down the middle. The rest go
: crosswise. My problem is that I didn't strip close enough to the forms on
: the left side and so the gap between the sheer strips and the center
: strips is 1/4" more on the left than on the right! Arg! Of course,
: the difference only exists where the crosswise strips are small (so it
: would/will be more noticeable). Arg and arg! How can I make this show
: less? I have a lot of different patterns going on already and I feel that
: if I cut out a slot for an accent strip (as in the "Strip: Decorative
: Deck Inlays" message) that it will just be _too_ busy... But, what
: else can I do now?

: Thanks for any input!
: charles