Lashing strake

The lashing strakes are now installed. And lovely lashing strakes they are, too.


The lashing strake is what keeps the beam lashings from popping off. Since the lashings hold the beams to the hulls, and therefore do a lot to hold the boat together, this is important. That said,  there are options. Smaller pieces can be used below each of the beams, or a continuous piece can run from the forward to the aft beam.


We chose the continuous piece, made from purple heart. It's not all one piece of wood -- there are scarf joints involved. It's finished with five rubbed-in coats of boiled linseed oil, which has darkened the purple of the wood to something nearer brown. Oxidation will apparently cause it to go to dark chestnut when it is out in the sun.

It's held on with sikaflex and carriage bolts. No distant supplier for this -- everything came from the Harbour Chandler in Nanaimo.


The sikaflex is black (it comes in various colours) and is exceedingly sticky when wet and rubbery when set. The carriage bolts are regular carriage bolts -- galvanized. 


Once everything is in place, there's lots of clean-up as sikaflex oozes out when the bolts engage.