Lance Turner

Hope everything is well with you after your surgery. I was wondering why I haven't seen any more pictures of your beautiful Core Sound 17. I will look forward to seeing you and your boat at the spring messabout or maybe sooner. Lance Turner

Richard, I built a lapstrake canoe called Charlotte, designed by Tom Hill. Tom Hill's method uses ribbands to define the shape of the strakes. In Tom Hill's method, you mark the shape of the next strake prior to glueing the previous one. This is how you go about it using Tom's method. However, when doing it like you are doing, I would say be careful not spile out a strake any further ahead than the next one to be hung unless you insert a small piece of the planking thickness at each station mold to represent the not-yet-hung strake prior to the one your are spiling. (Tom Hills method) It doesn't sound like that small thickness will make a difference but it will. What will happen is the strake will not fit properly and will have to "edge set" or forced into position once it comes time for that one to be fitted on the form. Of course if you cut the strake oversize then you will probably be ok. When I built Charlotte, I had very little waste by not cutting the strakes ovesize.

I'm in the process of building a Charlotte canoe designed by Tom Hill. I only have the sheer strakes to glue and then I can attach the outwales. What method are you using to mark out the strakes? Tom Hill's method is to use the ribbands to mark out the strakes and you must always mark out the next strake before attaching the previous one. Being that said, when you mark out the next strake, it is necessary to attach shims the same thickness as the planking thickness between the upper ribband (the one toward the keel being the boat is upside down) and the plywood that your are going to mark your pattern on. This is done at each station mold with a clamp. The shim represents the thickness of the "not yet hung strake" If the shim is not used then the strake will not fit properly. Is this the method you are using on the Lapwing to define the shape of the strakes.