strake

thumb|A clinker-built Viking longship, whose overlapping planks constitute "strakes". thumb|right|Garboard strakes and related near-keel members right|thumb|Diagram of typical modern metal-hulled ship’s exterior plating, with a single strake highlighted in red

On a vessel's hull, a strake is a longitudinal course of planking or plating which runs from the boat's stempost (at the bows) to the sternpost or transom (at the rear). The garboard strakes are the two immediately adjacent to the keel on each side.