: I haven't bought the wood for the stringers yet -- mostly out of ignorance of
: what precisely to buy (I know the site mentions Western Red Cedar... but,
: I'm not 100% certain where to find that.). Anyway- my real question is
: once I do find what I'm after, how long do the boards need to be?

: I know it's an 11' kayak- but, given that the wood will be pushed outward
: around the cross sections, whatever length I buy will be shortened. And, I
: know that whatever I end up with will be cut down to where the boards come
: together. But, how much should I account for? Will a 12' board suffice?
: Or.. a 13'?

12' lumber stringers will do nicely. I used a 10' 2x6 and cut my stringers from that, scarfing together pieces to get 12' stringers. In this blog posting I describe cutting the stringers & scarfing: http://pawistik.blogspot.com/2008/03/small-progress.html If you don't want to bother scarfing the wood, just buy the 12' lumber. My issue was that I couldn't find a decent piece in 12' length and I already had a scarfing sled for the table saw so I put it to use.

It doesn't have to be cedar, it could be whatever wood is inexpensive and plentiful, but cedar is lightest.

One thing I had to get my head around when I built my Sea Flea was that it's not an exact science. The exact shape and length of your boat are dependant on how you build your stems, and how tightly you pull in the stringers at the bow and stern. My Sea Flea could actually be a fair bit different from any one else's. Yet they all seem to turn out just fine.

: (I hope this makes sense-- I'm truly a woodworking NEWBIE. I had to buy tools
: just to get this far.)

Many of us are still newbies.

Cheers & have fun with your princess!

Bryan S.