>... exterior
> stem piece. Anyone been there, done that ?

Ah, yup.

>Would mahogany be a good
> choice.

I love the look and performance of the mahogany I used.

>I have some thin test strips that would be the right length or
> should I go to a hardwood ?

Make them on the longish side anyway. I found I lost considerable bulk and some length shaping and blending them into the boat.

I have a series of pics of this stage of my construction process. You're welcome to check them out. It takes place from photo

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k045-10.jpg

through photo

http://sites.netscape.net/evalley/kayak/img/k045-16.jpg

By the way, I apologize in advace for the very slow load time of the website. It too is under construction. (I just want to be like Ross.)

Ed Valley