Usually white wood is a general term for non-fir softwoods used for construction lumber. It will usually be pine or spruce, or sometimes larch.

I have to check my lumberyard often--I prefer to build with the spruce, since it's much lighter--you'll get a lot of strength from your fiberglass, too, so it's not too bad to use a less-strong stripping wood. Pine is pretty brittle, and heavy for its strength. Spruce is much lighter--about as light as some redwood--but less brittle than redwood or pine.

Like Don mentioned, old-growth lumber is much nicer to work with, and often looks much nicer, but hard to find unless it's recycled.

: My local home furnishing store carries some cedar, but the boards don't look
: very good. I can get poplar, douglas fir, aspen, pine(yellow), and what
: they have listed as white wood(?). All these look good and seem to be
: priced O.K. Does any one know anything about the white wood and if it can
: be stained for contrast and how well it will bend. I live in metro Atlanta
: and have been unable to find a good source of wood. I'm looking at
: building my first boat and don't want to spend a fortune on wood until I'm
: comfortable with my skills.the tools needed for cutting my own strips are
: readily available so thats not a problem.