: Wes,
: Thanks for your quick response. Actually, I worked the other way around. I
: started with the pattern I wanted in the deck - a long sweeping curve,
: then out from it towards the gunwales. That has brought me down to withing
: a strip or two width on each side which I now have to close. I'll be
: spending some time with it this weekend. Lots of staring then trial
: fitting I guess! I'm not too obsessed with the idea of a perfect fit, as I
: know there are many ways to obscure it, including with filler or even
: slivers of strips.

I developed a trick for making the matching bevel more or less perfect. I think it will still work for you.

After lots of aggravation trying to fit against the rolling bevel (threw away a few attempts) I finally realized that I was no finish carpenter and I would never have a fit that would be suitable for my 'work of art'. So I cheated. I trimmed a strip to a bevel that was kinda close then I used a long piece of emery cloth (belt sander belt cut in two) and trapped that in-between the two strips I was trying to match. The cloth only cuts on one side so it doesn't effect the existing bevel instead it uses the existing bevel as a guide and cuts the new piece in exactly the same angle. This worked out very well and gave a perfect match in minutes. In your case you will need to feed the belt into the boat and pull out while holding the new strip down against the bottom strip.

I had to work alone but I'm sure if you have a pair of helping hands you can do all the bevels in a short time. To try this you need to do the bevels now before you add any more strips then fill what's left.

Hope this helps.
--KT--