: Thanks for the input. How much heavier are we talking? If I used 3/16"
: strips, would it weigh the same (or more or less) as one with 1/4"
: cedar strips?

According to the data I could find on the web, WRC weighs ~19#/Ft3. Honduran Mahogany weighs ~30-52#/Ft3. When checking out mahogany for a project, I did notice that there was considerable variation in weight. It looks like no matter how you slice it, a mahogany boat is probably going to weigh quite a bit more than a cedar boat, perhaps as much as double.

: I knew that mahagony would be heavy, but I didn't know if that would be a bad
: thing for me. I only weigh 135 and I thought the extra weight might
: improve the tracking a little bit for me.

You might want to consider a smaller boat, or at least build one of the lower volume versions of the Night Heron. It's a nice boat, but the standard version is designed to accommodate someone Nick's size. It sits high in the water and will be even moreso for someone of your weight.

: Given the night heron's lines, would it be impossible to get it to take that
: shape?

Mahogany is quite stiff, so it would probably be difficult to get it to bend and twist to the curves in the NH. Using thin, narrow strips would help.

I also wonder if it will take staples without splitting.

: Would steaming or some other method help out?

I tried to steam bend a mahogany coaming rim for an SOF (It would've looked sweet with an ash rim!), but had little success. It will steam bend to some degree, but nothing like oak or ash will. Again, thin, narrow strips will help.