Big-Ed--

John, Dan and Dave are all giving good advice. The wood in a wood and 'glass boat is not a throwaway material. It is an important part of a composite structure. Think of it as Miracle Fiber W (MFW). The MFW has very good bending qualities. It naturally wants to assume graceful, fair curves. This makes it easy to get the proper hull shape. MFW is the low density part of the composite that is very stiff for it's weight. To get equal stiffness from a 'glass/resin layup you would need to add a lot of 'glass and, hence, weight. (To all the engineering types out there: Is this because MFW is strong in both compression and tension whereas glass fiber is only strong in tension?) Because MFW is light we can use it in thicker sections, which contributes a lot to stiffness.

Mike Scarborough
Friendship Kayak