The most stabile planks are quarter sawn, i.e. the grain runs across the short dimension of the board. And that is what Morris recomends in his book. Morris also recomends you get a thick plank so you can get both gunnals out of the same board. I don't think that's required with stringers

: I was at the lumber yard yesterday to pick up a sheet of marine
: meranti for frames, and looking at stacks of western red cedar
: which got me thinking ahead. Does the grain orientation matter
: with stringers and gunnels? The yard I'm using has lots of
: salvaged old growth logs milled, with incredibly tight grain and
: almost no knots. They can supply vertical grain, and they'll rip
: the boards to dimension as well. I'm not sure how the grain
: should be oriented. If the stringers are 5/8 x 1 and the gunnels
: are 5/8 x 1 1/2, what would be the best grain orientation?
: Thanks.