: Doing the deck all in heavy hardwoods will end up with a very heavy
: boat, pretty, but very heavy. Cherry and ash are nice, not light
: though.

Personally, weight can be a non-issue. I've built two all-hardwood 18' sea kayaks. The Nereida came in at 42 pounds. The Neytiri was 36. It is doable but takes a LOT of extra work.

Here are a few tidbits of wisdom concerning hardwoods (stuff you probably already know): In general, most will not make the compound bends as easily as cedar. Even if you reduced the thickness to an 1/8" thick. You also need to be more fiddly with your joints. The hardwoods hold detail better. Your joints can be slightly off with cedar and you'd never know.

For a first time builder I'd stick to all softwoods for the stripping and leave the hardwoods to stems and the cockpit coaming.