The Ulua plans call for strip plank construction, with the preferred wood being Red Cedar. It should be said that a glassed Red Cedar boat is absolutely stunning to look at. However to my mind it has two serious drawbacks:
1. Build imperfections will be visible to close inspection.
2. All that beautiful wood needs to be looked after which means lots of varnish!
3. Red Cedar is very expensive
So while I know that all wooden boat will require maintenance, a paint finish will be more resilient than varnish. On the upside it will also allow me to add some of my own details to it.
SO that meant I can use a cheaper wood like Alaskan or yellow cedar. Reading on the other forums I also heard of a wood called Paulownia grown by Rod Laurence which was used by Onehunga High school in their build and by surfers and kayakers. It's reputed to be almost as light as balsa wood which is a good sign.
So I called Rod up and after describing my needs he calculated how much I would need and a price to dress it to the right size for me. So I placed the order with him and in a couple of weeks it'll be ready for me.
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