: If you decide on a strip built kayak, there are a couple of ways of keeping
: the cost of the timber down if you have access to some woodworking
: equipment.
: Old recycled skirting boards were often WRC. I used them successfully for the
: deck of one kayak.
: Paulownia is a good alternative to WRC, a paler colour, but lighter and good
: to work.
: My first two strip built kayaks were built from WRC offcuts that the
: timberyard would normally have tossed out. It cost me $100 for enough for
: two kayaks 6 years ago. I had expected to pay $300 to $400 for WRC at that
: time.

If WRC cost that much six years ago, there MUST be better alternatives. Duckworks Boatworks (of Australia) specializes in wooden construction and might be a good source of information on readily available species that would be suitable for strip kayak building. Woodenboat magazine also has an online forum where a question about this will get you answers from people (including Australians) with degrees in Forestry. Kauri and meranti are names that crop up frequently, but there are probably others that might be better.