: The thwart is made of a material that my father introduced me to a couple of
: decades ago. It is an extremely high grade of birch plywood made in
: Finland under the trade name of "Baltic Birch". It is virtually
: void free and exceptionally strong.

I'm almost done with a CLC 17 LT using 1/8" Baltic Birch. It's been a great wood to work with, and looks great so far. It's ending up a couple of shades lighter than okoume is under glass and epoxy. I'll try to get a picture up soon.

The only drawback I could find was that birch is not very rot resistant, but if you're putting the wood under 2-3 coats of epoxy, it should last long enough. It's also about 1/4 heavier, but if you watch the epoxy, you can keep weight under control.

Bill Jankowski Colchester, CT