Tapered planking

[paddler123]

While working on our 1908 Old Town this weekend, I noticed that the planks at the stem are tapered over their last inch or so to about half their normal thickness, to make the entry of the bow a littler narrower. Is this common? I hadn't heard of it and I can't find anything mentioning it in the Thurlow/Stelmok book.

 

[Claude Delisle]

The Peterborough I'm working on is the same. It was quite roughly done too, like they quickly ran a rasp over it.

 

[Rod Tait (Orca Boats)]

Likely so that with canvas and filler the end is not too thick to accommodate a 3/8" band.

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

Its nice to have a narrow entry at the stem so if the hardwood stem ends up being a bit wider than desired it common to tapper the ends of the planking to achieve the correct width on the face of the stem. Of course there is a limit to how much the planking can be tapered!