The strips will dry in days once cut. Don't even give it an ounce of worry because nothing will happen to the boat. Unless you're milling your own lumber, anything bought from any wood place or home center is fine. Even green wood would probably dry in a week once cut to strips.

You have to sand both surfaces anyhow and you will plain the edges or finish them in some way. I've used wood finished on one side only and so my strips had one rough thin edge. But 20 seconds with the plane solves that. I have also built with some strips from previous builds where the thickness was not the same. Since one side is being pushed against your forms the outer side gets planed and sanded at the end anyhow.