Most any wood COULD be used... Each has pro's and con's.
We mainly focus on weight (density) of the dried wood. It doesn't mean you can't use a hardwood or a heavy wood just because it isn't the norm.

Lighter is better but not at the cost for some people.

I would rather have a heavy boat than not boat at all.

: Allow your pine or other woods to dry as long as possible and sticker the
: boards
: (stack the boards with 3/4" X 3/4' X 4' sticks between layers and air
: spaces all around) to speed drying.
: When the boards have dried, pick through the boards noting that some will be
: lighter in weight.
: Those are the boards to use for your boat.

As far as drying wood, it can take a year to get the moisture out of stickered wood. Building a home kiln that uses a dehumidifer to suck the water out of the air can speed things along. The right way to do it is to measure the moisture content with a moisture meter.

Here is a link to a solar kiln..
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Homebuilt_solar_kiln.html

I know once bitten by the bug, a year is WAY too long to wait to get rollin'

Tim