: I discovered that my local big box store (Lowe's) has "Premium
: Eastern White Pine" boards, 1"x2"x8'
: (.75"x1.5" actual). They're clear. I actually found a
: couple that were straight, too. ~$4 a pop, which works out to be
: a lot cheaper than the 16' lengths of WRC I was looking to pick
: up.

: Unfortunately, that means I'm scarfing the lengths together. Just
: for giggles, I picked up a couple tonight. Measured and cut a
: 8:1 scarf rough with my circular saw, then cleaned it up with my
: block planes. I had some Gorilla Glue laying around, so I
: slapped a thin coating on one side, lightly wet the other, and
: clamped the two together. I figure I'll let it cure overnight,
: then Gorilla Glue three 1/4" dowels through the joint.
: Either it adds to the strength or my peace of mind.

: Now, the questions, from everybody who's more experienced than me
: *shameless grin*.

: - Am I ok placing the scarf at the middle of the two pieces,
: which'll place it right around the cockpit? Or would I be better
: off doing two scarfs per stringer, placing the joints at ~8 ft
: from the cockpit?

: - What's the opinion on Gorilla Glue for scarf joints? I clamped
: the Hades out of the joint... even broke out my Dad's old
: *****BIG***** C clamp (see the Picasa pics below). I'm not
: worried about clamping force, but I'm wondering if epoxy will
: give me a stronger joint. I've used Gorilla Glue plenty on my
: model aircraft, but there's a huge difference when I'm actually
: riding in the kayak (versus watching the model go down into a
: corn field). The scarf joint itself wasn't perfect... one side
: was perfect, the other was off by 1/64", maybe. Just enough
: for me to tell there's a gap there. I've heard GG requires a
: really good joint to be secure.

: https://picasaweb.google.com/theluckyone17/Kayak#

Because I didnt feel I could make a good enough tapered scarf joint, I elected to do a butt joint with a scab on the side.
I made up a jig to line up the two stringer pieces. I then placed my scab (12" piece of stringer material) over the joint and pre-drilled for screws. I then glued both the stringers and the scab with a thin layer of Tightbond III glue. Then used stainless screws to clamp the joint together.

It's not pretty, but it seems very strong. I did 2 joints per stringer, one in front of the cockpit, and one behind.