Thanks for the tips. The planer isn't just for one boat (this'll be my third but the first I've made strips for) but an addition to the shop for many other projects that are coming...and there are always projects on the horizon.

Scarfing. 18 to 24"? How do I get a clean, accurate cut that long on the boards in order to scarf them together? Your method seems a load quicker than individual scarfs on a belt sander set-up I was planning on. Even that method hasn't been thought through completely. This part of building the boat is all new to me so please keep all the info coming. Plowing through backlogs of threads is eating up a lot of daylight.