> I did some quick calculations for a 50-sq-ft boat with 1/4" strips
> (going from Nick's book, his Guillemot is 47-sq-ft, so I rounded up to 50
> for my 18' Outer Island):

> Northern White Cedar, Specific Gravity 0.31: 20.2# unfaired/unsanded
> Basswood, S.G. 0.38: 24.7# unfaired/unsanded

> 4.5# seems like a sizeable difference.

> Just for curiosity's sake, I calculated the bouyant force of a totally
> water-logged norther white cedar boat of this displacement (the built-in
> bouyancy that makes our boats unsinkable.) You use [1(for water)-S.G.of
> wood]X[volume in cubic-cm] to get a bouyant force of 45#, which means it
> would take a 45#-force to keep in submerged. Moral of the story -- use
> float bags!

> Dean

Dean, Specific gravity of wood is probably stated as an average. I know from experience from going through the lumber piles at local lumber yards looking for Western red cedar that each board of the same dimension is a different weight.

George Roberts told us to bring along the scale and weigh each board. even if you find a source for 20' white cedar will you be able to pick only the lightest boards with grain pattern desired?

I think I can buy enough basswood cheaply enough to duplicate the weight of white cedar that is probably avaliable. I can pick and choose the lightest boards from the large supply that is avaliable.

Cedar, either white or red is probably the best choice but, in my case I want to have something a little different even if its not the best.

The bigger question to me is whether the wood is too light colored and grain free to look good.

Larry