I am helping a friend of mine build a Rob Roy canoe (we're in training to get to kayaks), and the bow is about 4 inches higher than the stern. We used cheater strips to get the strips more even so that they run parallel to the waterline. This is partially for aesthetics, but also to make the stripping center better as we get to the bottom (we started striping from the shear).

We were surprised how easy the cheaters were to make, and the effect appears to be just as intended (we haven't finished the stripping yet). The cheater strips are a great tool for changing the alignment of the strips for whatever reason you have.

Jeff Fine On boat number 2, and severely addicted now. Carson City, NV

> Another reason for using cheaters is that will make it easier to fit strip
> at the bottom of the stem. Without cheaters, you can end up with keel-line
> strips that are parallel to the bottom edge of the stem. That's harder to
> fit than if the side strips have advanced further around the curve of the
> stem when cheaters have been installed.

> Always prepared to babble,

> Ross