Randy,
I used some spanish cedar in my stripper as well. beautiful brown and tight grained. Everyone thinks its Redwood until I point to the Redwood on my coaming recess. The area I live in Binghamton NY has the worst selection and grade of lumber I have ever seen. I usually pay top dollar by ordering stuff through my local mom and pop lumber yard. It is truly amazing, When I am mountain biking or hunting or skiing there are thousands of big straight Ash trees everywhere. However to get ash I had to special order it. Oh well, what are ya gonna do?
Keep building, Elliott
It sounds as if your next boat will be gorgeous.