> I'm thinking about a stitch and glue boat as a next project. The problem
> is......I live in Oklahoma City and there aren't any sources for marine
> ply here. I've thought about using 1/8" door skin stuff with 'glass
> sheathing, but the closest thing I can find is 5.2mm luan ply. The boat
> I'm considering specs 4mm marine ply. that 5.2mm stuff has a thick center
> ply that wouldn't likely bend very well. Anyway.....where does a
> landlocked person get a good deal on apprpopriate plywood for stitch and
> glue boats? Another question. Has anyone done a plywood hull with a cedar
> stripped deck? That would look nice. Is it too much trouble? Any ideas?
> Help! Garland

I've built a canoe and kayak out of 5.2mm luann from Home Depot. I can vouch for the previous statements regarding its lack of flexibility. My original intent with the canoe was to build a Sweet Dream canoe. This is a tortured plywood shape. The luann could not take the bend and snapped almost explosively. I had already put a lot of effort into the boat at that point so I modified the design on the fly and changed it to a hard chine canoe of the same width and length as the 14 foot Sweet Dream. I butt joined the site of the break with glass on both sides. The finished canoe is not as pretty as the Sweet Dream but it performs very well and is reasonably light (about 40 pounds). The kayak I built called for a curved deck held in place by gluing to sheer clamps. This turned out to be a severe problem. Bending the deck into shape was quite an effort. After completing the boat the deck came unglued several times. I ended up using epoxy and screws to refasten the deck, and I left the screws in place.

I plan to build a 14 to 15 foot kayak out of the same material this winter. No part of the boat will involve compound curvature and the simple curves will be very gentle. I will try to hold down weight by glassing only the seams. I will have a seam down the middle of the hull and the deck. Based on my experience the luann (if you examine each sheet carefully for voids) is very strong and does not require a lot of reinforcing with glass or deck beams. I have run the canoe over very very sharp rocks with myself and a 100 pound offspring on board with nothing other than cosmetic damage (I have had a hard time getting paint to stick). We routinely run the kayak and canoe onto gravel bars. I even let a boy scout troop borrow the kayak for a weekend and it came back intact.