check out tips for boat builder right on this site ther is a section on alignmnet

Thanks Dexter but I'm not sure I follow you unless you are referring to "Checking for Twist" under "Stitch and Glue Boatbuilding Tips."  To my mind this is not quite the same thing.  It is an operation I performed when building a kayak.  If it is the same thing though, then I'm in business. 

I wish I had brought the Skerry manual with me so I could quote it exactly.  Anyway, you turn the hull upside down place it on leveled sawhorses, then use a plumb bob at each end to check the alignment of the stems.  Since I haven't done this yet I'm not quite sure it means the same thing as a twist in kayak building.  Please enlighten.

It's really simple.  Take two pieces of straingt wood, like a 1x2 and lay them across the boat with the hull right side up.  Put one about 3 feet from the bow and one the same from the stern.  Step back five or ten feet and sight across the boat from forward to aft or the reverse.  If there is no twist the two sticks will line up and one on the end where you're standing will hide the one on the other end, or at least be parallel to it.  If you see the end of the stick on the other end sticking up or down, you have twist.  If one side is sticking up, get a helper to hold the other end of the boat and, (I hope this is understandable) twist that side down, or twist the down side up.  If you have tightened the wires this will be harder to do and you may have to loosen some of them to get it to work. 

If the sawhorses are level fore to aft and side to side the idea is to get the sticks sitting across the boat level also. 

"I wish I had brought the Skerry manual with me so I could quote it exactly.  Anyway, you turn the hull upside down place it on leveled sawhorses, then use a plumb bob at each end to check the alignment of the stems.  Since I haven't done this yet I'm not quite sure it means the same thing as a twist in kayak building."

I'd be interested in what the Skerry manual says, but can envision that with a multi-chine hull like that, the stems could be out of alignment even if there is no twist at the sheer. On my Chesapeake 17LT, with its single hard chine, it seems the bow stem tilts a hair to one side even though I was careful with the winding sticks across the sheer. I didn't check the stems with a plumb bob (not part of my Chesapeake instructions), until it was too late. If I had noticed it at the time it might have be correctabe by slightly adjusting the alignment of the panels at the seams.

Grant

Trueing up a kayak is entirely different than doing the same for the Skerry. A kayak is done right side up using the two stick method (winding). The Skerry is done upside down on two level sawhorses. Once you do that and hold the plumbob up to it it will become clear. If the boat is touching the sawhorses at all four points it should be a fair hull.

George K

Hah! George beat me to it while I was digging up my copy of the manual. Anyway, it's on page 58 of the manual and the photographs make it very clear what to do.

Anyway, wing has it right. Even though it's a different procedure for checking, the fix is the same - loosen/tighten wires and twist the hull as needed to make everything line up. It's not difficult, but it needs a lot a patience.

Only other thing to add, Shorebird, is that if you're in Baltimore you're just a quick 30-minute drive from the CLC showroom. Just scoot down 97 towards Annapolis. It will dead end into 50 and you're almost there. Here's a link to visiting them , with directions and a map. And if you're in town this weekend, the WInter Open House is this Saturday. It's basically Okoumefest Friday without the BBQ.

Nothing beats seeing the finished boat and talking with the experts. And you may even be able to avoid shipping charges on a purchase or two.

Laszlo

OK, thanks to everyone who replied.  So it's pretty much what I thought--kind of similar to truing a bicycle wheel.  I wanted to be sure first because the wires can start to cut into the wood with too much loosening and tightening and/or copper wire is soft and starts breaking.  I used every last bit of it to stitch the hull, but I'm pretty sure I can find some 1/16" (~16 or 17 gauge) wire locally.

I am staying near Baltimore (Linthicum Hts.) and plan to try to get by CLC tomorrow.  I am meeting a friend from New Zealand in Silver Spring in the morning and may have time to swing by after that.  I visited briefly the last time I was in town, but wasn't building anything at the time.  BTW, this is my second build--the first was a 17 LT.