: The clear boards (@ local
: lumber yard) I have seen here in Des Moines, Iowa costs $45 for clear
: redwood (3/4" (barely) x 5.5" x 20'). For clear Western Red
: (3/4" (barely) x 7.5" x 20')the cost is $60. Actuallly, I
: thought this was reasonable, but still expensive. The boards that I saw at
: Menards/Home Depot are not even close to the quality (beauty) of these
: boards. These clear boards were absolutely gorgeous in comparison. But I
: thought maybe some body might know where I could get the boards a little
: cheaper.

Tell ya what ya do. Get one board each of the clear cedar and the clear redwood. You'll get about 14 strips from the 1x6 and about 18 from the 1x8 if you use a thin kerf sawblade. those 32 strips should cover you for all the highly visible areas on the hull, and give you some nice coloration for the upper hull and deck.
Get some shorter boards of less than "Clear" quality for the rest. You may find that your lumberyard has better looking wood than Menards in select grades. Take a look at what they have for deck and fence materials. Remember, you can also use 2x4 and 2x6 stock for your strips. Sometimes the 2x materials are easier to work with.

If you want some nice accent, ask for a piece of pine, spruce or fir, which should be rather inexpensive. Unless you use a lot of redwood or pine you will not greatly affect the weight.

You'll find that you need a lot of strips which are in the 12 to 8 foot length, or shorter. I think the smallest piece I used was about 15 inches long. the deck, for example, can be stripped in two parts: fore of the cockpit, and aft of the cockpit, and uses strips that are 6 to 8 feet long. ( no sense covering over the entire cockpit and the cutting out a lot of waste. Just let your strips overhang the cockpit opening a few inches, and then trim back those few inches when you cut the actual cockpit opening.

:I am afraid if I start sawing knotty strips of wood I will run
: into a lot of overhead in terms of both time and potentially how the boat
: will look.

Well, of course you don't want to go for the wood with the most knots in it
If I find a nice 10 foot board with a gross blemish near the end, I cut out the blemish and scarf the 10 foot board into a narrower 18 footer. I've been working with 1x6 and 1x8 mostly. I rip the board in half, giving me two pieces that are nominally 1x3 or 1x4. Then I flip the right piece end for end. The top of it matches with the top of the left piece. Overlap them 2 feet, stack and cut through both diagonally to make a scarf with a ratio of about 8:1. If the big blemishes are in the overlapping area, they get cut away as I do my scarf.
When the glue on the scarf dries I rip my strips from these boards.

: Also, I don't know how this piece-mealing broken strips will
: affect the overall integrity of the finished boat either.

Ever seen a brick wall? The very term "Brick Wall" conjures images of solidity and strength, yet it is made up of many very short, individual, elements. teh big thing is that the beicks are staggered so that the joints and seams are not in a straight line for several consecutive rows. The same situation applies to your strip-built boat. If you want to scarf several strips into a longer length (time consuming) you can. Otherwise, just stagger the joints. All the strips secured by being edge glued to the strips next to them, and then they are laminated inside layers of fiberglass, so there is a tremendous amount of reinforcement for each joint. Simple, square, butt joints are perfectly fine.

: If I'm going to
: spend so much time putting the boat together, I figure I might as well
: spend an extra $100 to $150 more for the higher grade wood and also,
: hopefully save time.

Yeah, but it is so much nicer to spend that extra money on more wood for a paddle, or your next boat

Have fun shopping. Doesn't that lumberyard smell great?

PGJ