> I'm striping a canoe, It is fair along the sheer line, But as I am
> rounding the bilge there is a wow about 3' back from the foot of the stem.
> My questions would be, (i guess). If I continue will it come fair when I
> pull the forms?(not likely.) Should I pull the last 4 or five strakes and
> shim the form that is low? this seems like the most plausible solution to
> me and it also seems like a real pain, worse yet it is my fault for not
> paying closer attentiion. Are there any other sloutions that I am
> overlooking. thanks, Bob

Yup, you can shim the form.

Or, you can plane a bit off of one or both of the forms next to it.

Or, you can made gentle changes to all three areas.

Or, you can ignore the problem and just let the strips follow their own natural curves and they will bridge the low spot, being supported on the higher forms on either side. In this case don't try to staple the strips to the form. You can use shorter staples ( 1/4 inch) and staple the strips to each other so they support each other in this area.

You might want to take a minute and a few short strips and lay them over the three forms: The low one and the ones that surround it. Look for the range over which you have the ``wow'' If it is just another inch or two, poke a shim under it now to force out the existing low spot and make that line up with the next, properly located, strip, and go on with your stripping and forget this for now.

How low does this ``wow'' actually get? I'm guessing somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. After you have the hull completely stripped you can fill the low area with a few short strips of 1/8 or 1/16th inch thick wood glued on with epoxy, and held in place with a couple of staples until the epoxy sets. This is strictly cosmetic, so line up your filling strips in line with your original strips.

You can make such thin strips by carefully resawing a leftover bit from a 1/4 inch strip. By the time your sawblade takes its bite out of the strip you will have only a very thin strip left. Saw this carefully. These little jobs tend to be the ones where people lose finger tips.

After those thin strips are solidly glued on, pull the staples and use some aggressive sanding to blend them in as you fair the hull. On the inside you will have an un noticeable bulge in your bilge. (Gee, that almost sounds poetic.) in an area of the boat that will probably never be seen. On the outside this should look no different than the joint between any other strips on the boat. No one will ever know that the boat is actualy a bit thicker here.

Hope this helps.

Paul G. Jacobson