Chris,
I am just finishing the hull of a kayak in basswood now with walnut for accent. Basswood is really nice to work with but it does have an aggravating light fluffy saw dust. It is not rot resistant so it was never used in traditional boats but with fiberglass that is not a concern. I think it is easier to work with than cedar and the contrast looks nice. I used to imbed pictures from Picassa but it looks like google destroyed that feature.
Scott

Basswood was an early choice for canoe building, it was used for the dugout canoes that European settlers built for their own use as a more durable alternative to the birchbark canoes. Later it was used in the "wide board and batten" canoes built by professionals in the Peterborough area of Canada, often over a mold consisting of an old dugout. Some years ago I had the privilege to watch legendary Walt Walker (last working professional canoe builder and already in his 90's back then) work his magic at the Canadian Canoe Museum. The wide basswood planks, only 4 per canoe, were teased into their 3-dimensional shape by judicious use of water to persuade the wood to expand where needed. The wood seemed to know what Walt wanted . . .

Strip-building came along afterwards, although Walt was proficient in that too; ribs with rivets or tacks not glass and epoxy of course. I couldn't find a video of a basswood build but here's a murky vid of a cedar strip build similar to the one for the British Royal family back in the 70's: probably the same mold.