This was a discussion about what materials were appropriate if building a wooden canoe in Australia and how to build an economical but lighter boat. However, plantation grown Paulownia, a light Chinese timber is cheap compared to other alternatives. It is often used for window shutters and for wooden surfboards. I was rather pleasantly surprised when I went to pick it up thinking it would look as boring as Balsa. I am keen to hear how the Paulownia goes. There is a bit on the net and other places suggesting that because of the lower strength compared to Cedar that the Paulownia strips need to be thicker.