I am about to embark upon the construction of Dave Gentry's Disko Bay. Here's a link to Dave's build: http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?110983-My-Disko-Bay-kayak-project

Eventhough I live in a VERY martiime location and culture (Newfoundland) marine plywood is as rare as hen's teeth!! I could go with exterior grade but all that is available locally is construction grade fir - which I hate working with due to it's splintery nature and the presence of voids. I could order in some but that would almost double the cost of the boat. PLUS I hate working with plywood!!

I'm contemplating on converting the frames to solid wood. I think I can re-jig the frames so that I can make them from solid wood by using well-placed lap joins. Some may agrue that this is a lot more work than going with plywood but there are only 6 frames to make, so it should not be too onerous. A little more work than the plywood but certainly a lot less work than going with the "traditional" method, i.e. numerous bent ribs

Has anybody gone this route before? I can't decide whether 1" or 1.5" x 3/4" would suffice but I'm assuming that this would depend on the wood. Any suggestions on what wood - hard or soft? Depending on how strong the joins feel after inital construction, I have some ideas on how to add support by adding knees in the corner of each join. Or thin plywood gussets could be added as well, and in a way that they would not be seen after cnstruction is complete.

Any issues to be found with this? Comments/suggestions etc are greatly appreciated.

Sean