: Hi,

: I have (finally) bought home my WRC strips for my kayak builds - pla at
: present is for a Micro Bootlegger and Mystery.

: One question I'm pondering is which way to scarf the joints in the wood -
: diagonally across the strip (easier, but still almost a 'but' joint but
: longer, and will leave a visible line) or through the strip from inside to
: outside (more work, but more surface area and if I'm careful they'll be
: invisible).

: I'm leaning towards option 2, despite the effort, although I've seen good
: results in going across the strip - I could place the strips so that the
: line runs un broken through the boat and provides a nice accent.

: So, any thoughts from those who've done this one or more times before? Real
: question is: should I make the effort to plane all strips front to back,
: will it become invisible and is it worth the effort?

: Thanks,
: Darren
: Melbourne, Australia

Hi Darren.

One way to avoid all of this is to get 20 ft lengths.

On another point though, I did some sculpting years ago (when I lived on the Gold Coast) in Australian Red Cedar. It had a beautiful wine red colour like sapele mahogany, (not brown red like WRC) a lovely close grain and was quite light weight. I would love to be able to use some in a boat. You should see if you can find some for accent strips perhaps or even an entire boat. It was not expensive. Another great very light weight Ausi wood is Heuon Pine (not sure of spelling). It is very light in colour and weight and also has a nice grain. It may be a protected species though.

Check out some of your local wood. You have some very nice and unusual species. Of course GreenHart and IronBark are non-starters. Too heavy. They actually sink in water.

All the best

Etienne (now living in Ireland)