: I live in Indiana, and I cannot find any cedar boards over 16', and my kayak
: will be 17' long.

I've never had a board that came anywhere close to the length of my boats. On the first boat, I scarfed a couple strips for the shear strip ahead of time. Since those first strips, I've always fitted the strips directly on the forms. Seems faster and easier than scarfing boards together to create a long board to rip.

For me, the key was creating a miter box of sorts with the angle set at 8:1. Scarfs typically have to be pointed out unless I do a poor job of matching the colors.

BTW, many people will recommend avoiding knotty wood for lots of very logical reasons. I've used quite a bit in my strippers and like the look - just be forwarned that you're not likely to ever get it sanded perfectly fair.

jrs