Guy,

Bamboo would seem to be too dense for building a boat with 1/4" strips. Bamboo is tough enough that the 1/4" thickness would far exceed the durability needs anyway. If you're itching to try building a boat with bamboo, I'd bet it'd work well in a cold molding process. Briefly, you'de make thin strips of veneer and lay them onto your form in layers such that the grain alternates by 45 degrees or so. I think you'd have to space your forms much more closely too if the veneer is super thin (maybe 0.050"?) for best conformity. It might also work to build your form using styrene foam insulation as sold at home stores. You can carve that stuff easily with a simple hot-wire cutter.

If you build a cold molded bamboo boat, or a bamboo boat using any process, you'll have to keep everyone posted. It sounds like an interesting project!