> I'd be interested to hear from others how well regular Lauan undrlayment
> has served and how well it has held up. I totally agree with your
> strategy; Learn with the cheap stuff first. I question your opinion of
> hard chine boats not being up to the waters of LI Sound though, the
> Greenlanders have sworn by hard chine craft for a few thousand years now
> and they paddle in much rougher condtions than those you'd typically find
> in LIS.

I used 1/8" mahogany plywood from Eagle (the same stuff that George Burns used), with excellent results. The 1/8" has 3 almost equal in thickness plys. 1/4" mahagany had the same thickness outer plys with a thick inner ply. 1/8" bent very well, but the 1/4" did not. If the plys are of equal thickness and there are no voids, then I would highly recommend using cheaper plywood.

I also used Raka fiberglass and epoxy. Total cost for my kayak was $140!!! I am VERY pleased with the final result. Once glassed on both sides the cheaper plywood becomes extremely strong.

I agree with you on hard chined kayaks being very seaworthy. The Inuits of Southwest Greenland made some of the most seawothy kayaks ever! The Aleut baidarkas rivaled them, but both designs were remarkable. Most of our hard chined designs today stem from the Southwest Greenland designs.

Mike