strake(n = noun.artifact) wale - thick plank forming a ridge along the side of a wooden ship;
is a kind of board, plank
is a part of vessel, watercraft
has particulars: garboard, garboard plank, garboard strake, gun rest, gunnel, gunwale
1. A streak. [1913 Webster]
2. An iron band by which the fellies of a wheel are secured to each other, being not continuous, as the tire is, but made up of separate pieces. [1913 Webster]
3. One breadth of planks or plates forming a continuous range on the bottom or sides of a vessel, reaching from the stem to the stern; a streak. [1913 Webster]
" The planks or plates next the keel are called the garboard strakes; the next, or the heavy strakes at the bilge, are the bilge strakes; the next, from the water line to the lower port sill, the wales; and the upper parts of the sides, the sheer strakes." [1913 Webster]
4. A trough for washing broken ore, gravel, or sand; a launder. [1913 Webster]
strake, n.
1 a continuous line of planking or plates from the stem to the stern of a ship.
2 a section of the iron rim of a wheel.
Etymology:
ME: prob. rel. to OE streccan STRETCH