Thanks Dave,

My wife's father lives near DC so that would be great. As for the strength of Paulownia, you are right, it is not as strong as pine. I was saying "strong like pine" to convey that it feels more like a much denser wood but it was a bad choice of words. However to me it is very much like cedar. I have learned that there are many variations of the stuff. The batch I got to play with was very strong. I didn't get to compare side-by side.

: Hi Malcolm
: A friend and boatbuilder here in VA commonly comes up with
: Paulownia in those lengths from somewhere in the Washington DC
: area. I'll ask him about it.
: Coincidentally , I have just finished drawing up plans for my own
: SUP/SOT . . . in SOF, though, of course. I'm in the process of
: moving, but should have it built before too long.

: I'll let you know about the wood situation, probably tomorrow. BTW,
: I wouldn't call Paulownia anywhere near as strong as pine - or
: even WRC . . . .

: Dave Gentry

: . . . In fact I plan to use it as a sit-on-top now and then. Since
: this is a